Chelsea face €35m transfer DEBACLE

Tom Weber

Updated: 19 Mar 2025 13:10 CDT
3 min read

Borussia Dortmund will not trigger the purchase option in Carney Chukwuemeka's loan deal from Chelsea, according to German media.

The England youth international was finally freed from his Stamford Bridge nightmare in January. Chukwuemeka, after being bluntly told by Enzo Maresca to leave last summer, joined Borussia Dortmund on a six-month loan in the winter.

Article continues under the video

Due to injuries and repeated coaching changes, the midfielder never managed to consistently break into the Chelsea team. He was barely utilised by Maresca after failing to secure a summer move and so far, his time at Dortmund has yet to really bear fruit.

Chukwuemeka showed immense promise on his debut for the Bundesliga side, but the German club had to wait a while for him to be ready. Fitness issues prevented him from featuring at the end of February.

He has since gone on to make five appearances for BVB, but he has yet to start a game as he is still clearly not ready to play consistently. This is, of course, unsurprising given his lack of action at Chelsea and his injury problems.

Dortmund won't sign Chukwuemeka

Dortmund boss Niko Kovac waxed lyrical about Chukwuemeka after his encouraging debut against Union Berlin, but the tune has somewhat changed in recent days and weeks.

Dortmund's dire sporting situation and Chukwuemeka's inability to feature more than a few minutes at a time have led to club chiefs deciding that they will not exercise their €35 million purchase option, according to Ruhr Nachrichten.

Given his price, Chukwuemeka would have matched their record outlay on a player and Dortmund simply can't justify paying that kind of money when they look increasingly likely to miss out on Champions League football next term.

There is a willingness to consider extending his loan by a further season to really get a good look at Chukwuemeka, but this course of action will certainly not appeal to Chelsea who are determined to get the 21-year-old off the books permanently this summer.

Other clubs will also think twice about spending €35m or thereabouts on the youngster. Chelsea could be stuck with Chukwuemeka again come the end of the season.