Chelsea secure first Strasbourg starlet after multi-club deal

Stuart Telford

• 14 Jul 2023 17:16 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea have helped Strasbourg secure their first major deal since buying into the Ligue 1 club at the end of June, with Ivorian youngster Abakar Sylla set to join from Club Brugge.

Chelsea chairman a co-owner Todd Boehly has long been vocal about his support of a multi-club model, and made good on his word last month, buying a majority stake in Strasbourg.

Cooperation between the two clubs has taken little time to come to fruition, and hot on the heels of the news that Brazilian youngster Angelo will be loaned to the Ligue 1 side on his arrival from Santos, the Blues have helped Strasbourg conclude another deal.

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Sylla, a 20-year-old centre-back who already has three caps for the Ivory Coast, will complete a €17 million transfer from Brugge in the coming days, which will represent a club record signing for the Alsatians.

Chelsea supervision 'crucial'

"Strasbourg have reached full agreement to sign Ivorian centre back Abakar Sylla, here we go!" tweeted Fabrizio Romano in his inimitable style. "Deal almost done with Club Brugge for fee close to €17m.

"Understand Chelsea supervision was crucial as they believe Sylla has huge potential for the future."

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Chelsea have reportedly helped secure the deal with a view to bringing Sylla to West London should he improve, as expected, at the Stade de la Meinau.

Sylla has a potential SciSkill rating of 92.8 per SciSport, an official partner of FootballTransfers, which would ultimately put him in the same range as promising Blues centre-backs such as Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile and Levi Colwill.

A left-footed centre-back like Badiashile and Colwill, Sylla started 16 of his 20 Belgian Jupiler League games last season, and averaged one successful take-on per 90 minutes, which put him in the 97th percentile by that measure Europe-wide.