Completed deal: €10m left back transfer opens door for more Chelsea loan action | OneFootball

While Chelsea drag their heels on doing anything exciting in this window, Blues fans are having to get their kicks by following their sister club, RC Strasbourg, and seeing what they’re up to.

Chelsea have managed to loan out a left back – Strasbourg have today bought one. Valentin Barco joins them from Brighton on a 6 month loan deal, with a €10m compulsory future fee as part of the deal.

That looks to be decent value for a player once highly rated enough to be linked with Chelsea and other top Premier League teams. He’s not quite lived up to his potential at Brighton, but should get plenty more chances to develop in France.

BlueCo Extra on Twitter, who seem to have a lot of good information coming from suspiciously senior sources, always with a positive spin, say that Benfica and Porto were keen on Barca too, and the former had “several days” of negotiations with the player before he eventually chose Ligue 1.

Chelsea’s loan shuffle can begin with 2 days left in the market

Carney Chukwuemeka surges through midfield. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The arrival of a left back in Alsace also means that Caleb Wiley, a Chelsea player from the same position currently on loan there, can be recalled. We expect that to happen in the next 48 hours, and he’s potentially got a move to Watford lined up already. That frees up a slot for another player to go on loan there, with Carney Chukwuemeka among the players apparently considered a good option to go there.

Chelsea will likely keep that space free until the last minute, knowing they’re effectively negotiating with themselves, and see what shakes out in the rest of the market.