This summer transfer window has certainly been a snoozefest thus far, and we’re still waiting for a splash signing by any of the Premier League big boys. Given how they splashed the cash so extensively last summer, the smart money was on Chelsea to get this transfer spending party started first.
Well, we’re still waiting, because one of the two players they’ve been linked to most strongly this silly season, Inter Milan’s Achraf Hakimi, isn’t coming. (Erling Haaland is the other player they’ve been linked to a lot, but he’s probably not moving this summer either).
Chelsea had been considered the front-runners for the Inter right back, having jumped ahead of Paris Saint-Germain in the derby to acquire him, but that’s all by the wayside now.
Sky Sports report that Chelsea submitted a £51.3m bid for the 22 year old fullback while PSG filed an “improved bid to £59.8m and are confident the player’s wish to move to Paris will make the difference.”
Meanwhile ESPN report that Chelsea never even made a formal bid while PSG have reached an agreement now, one that will see them pay “up to €70 million” for the Moroccan international, who will sign a five-year contract with his new club.
Achraf Hakimi moved over from Borussia Dortmund just last summer, for €40m, after having spent two seasons on loan at BVB.
Inter initially valued him at around 80m Euros (£68.4m), but this is still going to be a massive financial windfall for them. They certainly need it, given how their current financial situation has forced them into sell off mode this summer.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.