Chelsea target Aymen Abdennour has revealed that he was in talks with the club on deadline day but the move fell apart after they opted to sign David Luiz from PSG instead.
Antonio Conte was desperate to bolster his defensive options over the summer, but he was forced to consider alternatives on a number of occasions and had to wait until deadline day to address the issue.
Having signed both Marcos Alonso and Luiz, he will hope that he now has the depth and quality to sustain their impressive start to the Premier League campaign.
However, after many questioned the decision to bring Luiz back just two years on from leaving Stamford Bridge for Paris, it’s been suggested by Abdennour that he was in negotiations with both Chelsea and Everton ahead of the deadline but saw a move to England fall apart.
While Ronald Koeman missed out on him, Chelsea are said to have made a move for the Tunisian international on deadline day itself, as noted by The Sun, but their £30m signing of Luiz took over as the priority and broke off talks over his move to London instead.
“I was negotiating with English clubs during the transfer window, but for financial reasons the transfer did not happen,” the 27-year-old said.
“Valencia is a great club and I have no problem continuing because I have four years left on my contract.”
It remains to be seen whether or not Chelsea made the right decision in opting for Luiz over Abdennour, but the latter’s comments do suggest that he may well have been the more expensive acquisition which in turn potentially forced their hand to go with Luiz.