Chelsea agree €15m deal to sign Mathis Amougou

Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Saint-Etienne midfielder Mathis Amougou, according to The Telegraph.

The Blues are on the verge of reinforcing their squad with another talented young midfielder. After days of talks with Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne, Chelsea have reached an agreement to sign Amougou.

The 19-year-old has impressed for the French club this season, making 17 appearances, albeit not always from the start. The central midfielder has represented France at every youth level since the U16s and is expected to make his debut with the U20s in the near future.

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According to The Telegraph, the deal to sign Amougou is being wrapped up by the Blues, although Fabrizio Romano states that the transfer is not quite completed yet. Either way, the final details will be ironed out shortly, with Chelsea paying a fee of around €15 million for Amougou.

It remains to be seen how the West London giants will proceed with the Frenchman. BlueCo affiliate Strasbourg hold an interest, but a loan move to the Ligue 1 side will depend on Chelsea’s remaining loan spots. Joao Felix, Carney Chukwuemeka and Ben Chilwell are all expected to leave the club temporarily today.

Chelsea give up on O’Reilly and Essugo

The deal to sign Amougou means that Chelsea have ended their pursuits of Nico O’Reilly of Man City and Dario Essugo. A move for the latter always seemed unlikely as the Blues only recently began exploring a potential deal and had yet to engage in formal talks.

Talks over O’Reilly had been much more advanced, with Chelsea trying to pull off a repeat of their Cole Palmer swoop in 2023. However, Man City learned from that deal and insisted on a buy-back clause.

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According to David Ornstein, Chelsea were unwilling to make this concession and left the negotiations for O’Reilly. He is highly-rated at Man City and it would have always required a major fee to sign him.