Chelsea
Chelsea Forced To Pull Out Of Deal To Sign Midfielder
Chelsea have been forced to ditch plans to re-sign Portuguese midfielder Tiago Mendes on a free transfer due to complications over his ownership situation.
The summer transfer window is now open for business and it’s expected to be a busy few weeks as managers strengthen their squads ahead of next season, so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Chelsea won’t be signing Tiago Mendes.
Chelsea have had to ditch plans to re-sign Portuguese midfielder Tiago Mendes on a free transfer due to complications over his ownership situation, according to widespread reports today.
Tiago spent a season at Stamford Bridge back in 2004/05 before eventually finding his way to Atletico Madrid in 2010 after stints at Lyon and Juventus, and he helped the Spaniard’s lift the La Liga title and reach the final of the Champions League last season.
Diego Simeone was keen for the 33-year-old to remain at the Vicente Calderon and offered him a one-year contract extension, but Tiago turned it down as he was confident he could get a better deal elsewhere.
It was reported back in May that the Portuguese midfielder had signed a pre-contract agreement to join Chelsea when his deal with Atletico expired, yet three weeks into the summer window and we’re yet to have confirmation that he’s made the move back to West London, and now it’s become clear why…
The Daily Mail are one of several news outlets who are reporting today that the deal is now off due to complications over the players ownership rights. His agent Jorge Mendes still owns a share of the midfielders economic rights and third party ownership legislation in England prevents such deals from taking place.
So Tiago remains a free agent and is now understood to be weighing up an offer from Valencia, while a return to Atletico is also still under consideration with a one-year deal worth £2m still on the table.
The collapse of the Tiago deal means Jose Mourinho is still likely to be on the look-out for an experienced midfielder this summer, although the Portuguese coach insisted on Saturday that he’d concluded his summer transfer business.
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Whether that’s the case remains to be seen but you wouldn’t be surprised if he had one more player up his sleeve having already pulled off three excellent signings in Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa and Filipe Luis, but even if he has finished this summer Chelsea still have a formidable looking squad heading into next season.
