Chelsea set for unexpected £20m transfer windfall but only on one condition
David Datro Fofana has agreed a deal to join AEK Athens on a season-long loan deal, football.london understands.
Chelsea have reached an agreement with the Greek club to offload their striker for the season. AEK have an option to buy Fofana for £20million in June 2025, so if the Ivorian does well during his loan spell, the Blues could be in for a hefty windfall next summer.
The 21-year-old is not part of Enzo Maresca's plans at Stamford Bridge - that much has been made clear with the striker training away from the first-team at Cobham. Signed in January 2023 for around £9million, Chelsea could make a very nice profit on Fofana, who has featured just four times for the senior side since moving to the club from Molde.
Fofana is now set for his third loan spell since moving to Chelsea with the Ivory Coast international spending time in Germany with Union Berlin and in the north of England with Burnley last season. For Chelsea, it is another player off their books, for the season at the very least, in what has been a summer of change at Stamford Bridge.
The Ivorian is set to be the 14th player to leave the Blues on loan this season. Raheem Sterling, Lesley Ugochukwu, Armando Broja, Djordje Petrovic, Trevoh Chalobah, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Alfie Gilchrist, Caleb Wiley, Bashir Humphreys, Gabriel Slonina, Aaron Anselmino, Mike Penders and Eddie Beach all left the club in the summer transfer window.
Chelsea also ended up bringing in eight players for the 2024/25 season. Pedro Neto, Joao Felix, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Filip Jorgensen, Renato Veiga, Marc Guiu, Tosin Adarabioyo and Jadon Sancho have all arrived at Stamford Bridge in recent months.