Chelsea decide to kick the Jeremie Boga can down the road

Chelsea has opted not to purchase Jeremie Boga, but they have included a right of refusal on his contract with Sassuolo. The can is kicked down the road.

When Nemanja Matic returned to Chelsea, it opened up a world of possibilities. Suddenly young players did not have to stay at Chelsea and face loan after loan. They could be sold, with buy clauses, and then brought back if they manage to fulfill their promise.

Elsewhere, Arsenal attached a right of first refusal to Cesc Fabregas’ contract when he joined Barcelona. Basically it meant that if any club (like Chelsea) bid for Fabregas, Arsenal would be able to match the price. Arsenal decided not to with Fabregas and the Spaniard became more blue than he ever was red.

Those two ideas combine with Jeremie Boga now. Chelsea had a buyback clause on him and there were plenty of rumors about him returning to Stamford Bridge. But Chelsea has opted not to do that, instead going for the right of first refusal. Overall, this does not really change the situation a whole lot. It merely kicks it down the road for later.

The Boga saga has been ongoing for a while now. He had been doing well on his loans but there was seemingly no place for him at Chelsea. The club opted to sell him to Sassuolo, but they included a buyback clause just in case as they had done with a few of the missed opportunity youth of that generation.

In Italy, Boga has gone from strength to strength. Given his low buyback of just £13.5 million, it seemed like a no brainer to bring him back. Even if the Blues could not find a place for him (they could), they could still sell him on for much more than they brought him in for like Frankfurt did last summer with Luka Jovic.

But Chelsea has opted not to do that, seemingly because another plan is in place. There is also something along the lines of “maintaining a good relationship with Sassuolo” which is cool and all but it is not as though the two clubs have interacted beyond Boga. There is not even any smoke about other players in the squad Chelsea may be looking at.

This is not the end of Boga’s chances of returning, however. That first refusal clause means the price would be much more than £13.5 million but Chelsea is still in the driver’s seat. Any club bidding on Boga would be able to see the Blues match it. The ball would still be in Boga’s court, but at least Chelsea has not totally removed themselves from the equation.

Maybe Chelsea does not have a place for Boga. Even with the low buyback, that is an argument to be made. But this situation is not over. Not until Boga is sold to another club and Chelsea no longer has any ink on his contract. The situation has changed, but all Chelsea has really done is kick their decision down the road for later.