One of the more difficult deals for Chelsea to pull off this season wasn’t an incoming, but the exit of Tiemoué Bakayoko.
The defensive midfielder wasn’t in Frank Lampard’s plans for the current campaign, and after a decent but not extraordinary loan spell at AS Monaco, clubs weren’t exactly falling over themselves for the France international.
Milan and Paris Saint-Germain were the first to probe a potential deal, with the former of the two coming rather close until the arrival of Sandro Tonali, but it was Napoli who eventually got a deal over the line in the final days of the window.
They brought Bakayoko to the south of Italy on loan, where the player will reunite with Gennaro Gattuso, who already managed him during a temporary spell at San Siro a couple of years ago.
The midfielder told a press conference on Thursday, relayed by Mondo Napoli: “Of course [he was key], the manager convinced me to come in a great team like this one. I want to thank him live right now”.
There’s no option to buy in the loan, so it’s expected for Bakayoko to return to Stamford Bridge at the end of the season, but there will be hope in the Chelsea offices that this is the season the player will show his worth and finally get people interested enough to put real money on the table next summer.
