Chelsea agree deal to signal Valentin Barco from Strasbourg

Chelsea are set to finish a deal to signal extremely rated Argentine midfielder Valentin Barco from Strasbourg, as per ESPN Argentina‘s journalist Augusto Cesar.

Barco first rose to prominence in Argentina, the place his performances in Boca Juniors’ youth setup earned him a promotion to the senior squad underneath Miguel Ángel Russo.

Initially breaking by way of as an adventurous left-back, he was later pushed additional ahead into an attacking midfield position. This versatility has confirmed useful throughout his time at Strasbourg, the place he now operates primarily as a central midfielder.

The 21-year-old received his first style of European soccer after becoming a member of Brighton & Hove Albion in January 2024, making his debut in a 4-0 loss to Manchester Metropolis in April.

A brief-lived mortgage spell at Sevilla adopted, throughout which he made simply 9 appearances, earlier than BlueCo’s sister membership Strasbourg introduced him in January 2025. Since then, he has grown right into a key determine, significantly this season, contributing 11 targets and assists mixed and likewise marking his most up-to-date worldwide call-up with a objective for Argentina in opposition to Zambia.

Final month, Guillem Balagué, in a report through Soccer Discuss, revealed that Barco is ‘very shut’ to becoming a member of Chelsea.

It seems the deal is now on the verge of completion, as ESPN Argentina journalist Augusto Cesar studies in a brand new replace that the 21-year-old is ready to turn out to be a brand new Chelsea participant.

Barco set to hitch Chelsea

Cesar provides that the versatile Argentine was on Bayern Munich’s radar, however the Blues ‘pushed exhausting’ over the worldwide break to finalize every thing for his switch to Stamford Bridge in the summertime.

Chelsea underneath Enzo Maresca deployed inverted fullbacks, with Marc Cucurella and Malo Gusto continuously alternating between totally different roles, even in attacking midfield.

Throughout Liam Rosenior’s spell at Strasbourg, the present Blues boss deployed the identical strategy, continuously inverting Barco into midfield, the place he excelled and ultimately took over the position.

As such, the Argentina worldwide is already accustomed to the membership’s model of play and is anticipated to make a direct affect as soon as the deal is formally confirmed.

Chelsea maintain a slight benefit on switch charge phrases, as Strasbourg are unlikely to demand a charge considerably increased than his £30m Transfermarkt valuation from their sister membership.