After five miserable years at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko appears to be leaving the team for good.
The Blues paid Monaco £40 million to acquire the Frenchman back in 2017.
Bakayoko lived up to the high expectations placed on him and had a solid first year in west London. He made 43 appearances across all leagues and competitions in his rookie campaign, scoring three goals and winning the FA Cup.
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But after failing to secure a spot in Chelsea's starting lineup and being loaned out to various clubs across Europe, things started to go horribly wrong. He hasn't played for Chelsea since the 17/18 season.
The midfielder spent time on loan at Monaco, Napoli, AC Milan, and then returned to AC Milan, where he won the Serie A title the previous year.
The 27-year-old is nearing a permanent departure from Stamford Bridge after spending the previous few seasons on loan.
Bakayoko is most likely to sign with Ligue 1 team Marseille after the two parties reached a personal agreement, reports French news portal Foot Mercato.
Igor Tudor, the manager of Marseille, was reportedly not yet on board with the transaction, according to the article. Officials from the club will still need to persuade him to support the signing.
Valencia of La Liga is keeping an eye on the situation and may try to sabotage the deal before Marseille gets it approved. In addition to Marseille, Bakayoko has caught their attention.
One thing, though, appears to be for certain: one of Chelsea's most expensive busts is finally going to depart the club after five years.
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This summer, a lot of players have already left Stamford Bridge. After their contracts ended at the end of the 21/22 season, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen left the team on free transfers. Just one year after joining the club for £97.5 million, Romelu Lukaku has returned on loan to Inter Milan.
Chelsea has so far made two significant acquisitions in terms of signings. Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly, two central defenders, also arrived from Manchester City earlier this week.
More signings are anticipated because the club is allegedly in talks with French champions Paris Saint-Germain about defender Presnel Kimpembe, a France international.
Mason Mount's late goal gave the team a 2-1 victory over Club America as they began their preseason tour of the United States.
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