Malo Gusto rejects Chelsea’s Premier League rivals hijack attempt to secure Stamford Bridge transfer | OneFootball

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Absolute Chelsea

·28 January 2023

Malo Gusto rejects Chelsea’s Premier League rivals hijack attempt to secure Stamford Bridge transfer

Article image:Malo Gusto rejects Chelsea’s Premier League rivals hijack attempt to secure Stamford Bridge transfer

Malo Gusto rejected a late attempt of a hijacking to seal his transfer to Chelsea, according to reports.

The 19-year-old is set to complete his transfer to Stamford Bridge this January but will not join up with his new teammates until the summer.


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In order to get the deal done, Chelsea agreed to allow the defender to stay on loan at Lyon until June, when he will head on holiday before joining his new side at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues were heavily linked with a move for Gusto throughout the summer, but it appeared that a deal would be near impossible to strike in the winter window due to Lyon’s stance on keeping their star.

However, Chelsea acted swiftly to secure the signing of Gusto and he will now join the club pending a successful medical, which is set to take place on Saturday.

The transfer seemed a simple one by Chelsea’s standards, who have already hijacked Arsenal’s move to Mykhailo Mudryk in January as well as having publicly chased the likes of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo to no success as of now.

But it appears that a deal for Gusto could have been made complicated late on if it wasn’t for his desire to seal a move to Chelsea.

According to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, one of the Blues’ Premier League rivals attempted to pull off a hijacking for the deal.

They were unsuccessful however despite contacting Lyon over a move for the defender.

This was because Gusto informed the club that he only wanted to join Chelsea after agreeing personal terms with the club, rejecting the fellow Premier League side.

While it is unclear as to who the side that Gusto rejected were, Manchester United were heavily linked with a move for the youngster after holding interest in him.

With just days remaining in the transfer window, Chelsea are still looking to conclude further business as Graham Potter targets midfield reinforcements.

Caicedo has taken to social media to publicly request a transfer amid the interest from Chelsea and Arsenal, and could be one to watch out for.

While Fernandez remains a long-term target for Todd Boehly’s Blues and there are reports that Chelsea are not done in their pursuit of the Argentinian just yet.

It remains to be seen if any further business will be done after the signing of Gusto, who will incredibly become the seventh incoming of the January transfer window before returning to Lyon on loan.

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