Chelsea are expected to announce the signing of Jorrel Hato soon, having set up the move with a controversial tactic that is likely to frustrate their Premier League rivals.
Hato is set to complete his move from Ajax to Stamford Bridge for a fee of €50 million.
Both Sky Sports and Fabrizio Romano report that the deal is in the closing stages, with a breakthrough over the fee expected imminently.
The 19-year-old appears dead set on a move, having asked not to be involved in Ajax’s Como Cup clash against the hosts on Sunday for fear of getting injured.
In order to sign Hato, though, Chelsea have been forced to make sales. One of the deals that they have done is to sell Ishe Samuels-Smith to sister club Strasbourg for €8m, easing any concerns that the Blues will have with regards the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
Compared
The move was announced by Football.London and has since been verified by Romano.
Chelsea’s rivals will likely look at this deal and cry foul. Samuels-Smith has not played a single minute of first-team football for the Blues and has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €1.3m. This suggests they are getting well above market value for the player.
Had Samuels-Smith, who operates in the same areas as Hato and therefore has had his first-team chances effectively ended by the signing, been sold to a regular club, there would be few complaints, but the sale to BlueCo club Strasbourg will attract unwanted attention.
Boehly always finds a way
Chelsea have been accused of exploiting loopholes in the past – and not just with Strasbourg. The Ligue 1 club have regularly been used as a centre for the Blues to send players on loan, with Andrey Santos and Djordje Petrovic enjoying particularly successful spells in France last term.
Blues owner Todd Boehly, meanwhile, came up with the smart idea of amortising transfer fees over a prolonged period by giving players unprecedented contracts many years long. This was ultimately shut down and limited to five seasons, however.
Similarly, Chelsea’s practice of selling their own assets to their parent company has attracted annoyance for their rivals but has, so far, not been found to be illegal. Chelsea Women were sold for a record sum, for example.
Chelsea are not involved in any wrongdoing with the Samuels-Smith move, which sets up their signing of Hato. Instead, they are exploiting a situation they have knowingly created for themselves.
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