Chelsea dealt transfer blow as £20m loan deal collapses

Chelsea's deal to send David Datro Fofana on loan to AEK Athens collapsed at the Greek transfer deadline.

The Blues seemed confident of shipping the young striker to AEK on an initial loan which included a £20m option to buy.

But complications around the deal arose on Wednesday evening prior to the closure of Greece's transfer window and it fell through before those issues could be ironed out. Reports claim AEK walked back on their initial verbal agreement with Chelsea.

AEK had been busy during the summer transfer window, bringing in the likes of former Tottenham Hotspur winger Erik Lamela, Brentford goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha and ex-Watford midfielder Roberto Pereyra. They were also heavily linked with free agent Anthony Martial after his Manchester United contract expired.

The £20m buy clause in their initial agreement for Fofana would have been worth nearly four times their current transfer record, which stands at the £5.5m spent on midfielder Orbelin Pineda in 2023.

Chelsea are still looking to move Fofana on the for the 2024/25 season, with the Turkish transfer window still open until Friday. He is not in head coach Enzo Maresca's plans for this campaign.

Fofana spent the 2023/24 season out on two different loans. He initially joined Union Berlin, who had qualified for the UEFA Champions League, but scored only two goals in 27 appearances.

A loan to Burnley followed, and he managed four goals in 15 matches at Turf Moor, but couldn't save the Clarets from relegation back to the Championship.