Chelsea striker Deivid Washington was preparing to undergo his medical in London on transfer deadline ahead of a £17million move to sister club Strasbourg, in what would have been a record signing for the Ligue 1 club.
But then the Premier League and FIFA reportedly intervened.
The 19-year-old was set to move between two teams that are both owned by BlueCo, a multi-club ownership group which also controls Chelsea, after playing just 25 minutes under Mauricio Pochettino last season.
The consortium led by Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly became majority shareholders of the French club last year and a flurry of players have moved between Chelsea and Strasbourg, but Washington instead remains at Chelsea.
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ESPN claim that Chelsea were set to finalise a deal but decided to call the move off after the Premier League and FIFA raised concerns about the transfer, considering both teams were owned by the same ownership group.
Diego Moreira made the same move earlier in the summer, joining Strasbourg from Chelsea for £7.5m, and that deal is already under review by both regulatory parties.
Chelsea had been eager to raise significant funds by selling Washington to Strasbourg just a year after he arrived from Brazilian club Santos, but he now will remain at Stamford Bridge until at least January - despite being behind Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu in Enzo Maresca’s pecking order.
Similar rules prevented Manchester United from signing Jean-Clair Todibo earlier in the summer from Nice, with eyebrows raised over the possibility of two Sir Jim Ratcliffe clubs conducting business together.
And the Brit was far from happy that he could not bring the centre-back with him to Old Trafford. “They've said we (Nice) can sell him to another Premiership club,” Ratcliffe said. “But we can't sell to Manchester United. But that's not fair on the player and I don't see what that achieves.”
Other transfer windows remain open such as Saudi Arabia and Greece, but Washington is one of several members of Maresca’s ‘bomb squad’ that were told in no circumstance would they be reinstated to the first team.
He joins Ben Chilwell, Harvey Vale, Angelo Gabriel and David Datro Fofana as players who will continue to train away from Maresca’s preferred group, after being informed by the Italian that they needed to find new clubs.
"The only thing I can say is the ones who are going to get minutes are the ones who I think can help us," Maresca said on Thursday. "It’s not just Raheem (Sterling). It’s all the players who are training apart. The moment the transfer window closes, they are not going to get minutes."
