Chelsea’s Deadline Day move for Amrabat

Carlo Garganese

• 7 Feb 2023 07:00 CST
• 2 min read

Chelsea made a Deadline Day move for Fiorentina star Sofyan Amrabat before signing Enzo Fernandez.

That is according to Fabrizio Romano, who reports that Chelsea made direct contacts in the closing hours of the window.

However, Fiorentina made it clear that they had no interest in selling Amrabat.

READ MORE: January 2022-23 done deals

As a result, Chelsea turned their attention back to Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez and completed a British record €121 million deal.

Chelsea were not the only team to try and sign Amrabat on Deadline Day.

Barcelona also pushed to sign the midfielder, who failed to turn up to training on Deadline Day in an attempt to push through a move.

Barca proposed a loan deal with an option to make the transfer permanent in the summer for around €37m.

Fiorentina also rejected that offer and are understood to be unhappy that clubs made a move so close to the transfer window ending, in the process unsettling the player.

Amrabat was arguably the best midfielder at World Cup 2022, playing a crucial role for a Morocco team that stunned everyone in reaching the quarter-finals

The 26-year-old produced a series of dominant performances in the centre of midfield as Morocco knocked out Belgium from the group stages, and then Spain in the last-16 and Portugal in the quarter-finals.

Morocco were finally beaten in the semis by France, before losing the third and fourth place playoff to Croatia.

Amrabat’s displays have led to a whole host of Europe’s biggest clubs taking interest in the Fiorentina star.

Liverpool, Tottenham Atletico Madrid and PSG are also understood to be fans of Amrabat together with Chelsea and Barcelona.

Tottenham are already long-term admirers of Amrabat, having been in advanced negotiations to sign him in January 2022.

The deal eventually fell through at the final minute when Fiorentina decided to keep Amrabat.

How much will Amrabat cost?

Amrabat’s asking price soared due to his World Cup performances and he is now valued at closer to €60m.

Amrabat’s contract at Fiorentina expires in the summer of 2024 but there are reports that the Viola may have an option to extend his deal.

Amrabat joined Fiorentina from Hellas Verona in 2020 and is now considered one of the best central midfielders in Italy.