Chelsea and Galatasaray have made moves to sign Trabzonspor’s Christ Inao Oulaï in the winter market.
Africa Foot cover Chelsea and Galatasaray’s efforts to secure his services. The Ivory Coast international joined Trabzonspor from French side Bastia in August 2025 and has played 11 games this season.
Egypt knocked Ivory Coast out in the AFCON quarter-final earlier this month and Oulaï was a regular for his national team in the tournament. His performances for club and country haven’t gone unnoticed.
Africa Foot name Chelsea, Galatasaray and PSV Eindhoven as interested parties. The 19-year-old can play in the middle of the pitch and as a defensive midfielder. This, his profile and potential have attracted Liam Rosenior’s side.
They state Chelsea made an offer worth €40m, which is double the €20m proposed by Galatasaray.
Africa Foot claim Trabzonspor are demanding €50m for him. PSV, for their part, are only monitoring the player.
Chelsea have to raise their offer to acquire his signature. There’s nothing to suggest the Club World Cup winners will return with an improved bid.
Chelsea interest would pressure Galatasaray
Trabzonspor president Ertuğrul Doğan has comfirmed rejecting Galatasaray’s offer and receiving offers from other clubs. Cumhuriyet have relayed his comments.
“We received an offer from Galatasaray. It’s an important club. It’s not appropriate to name the club. I don’t want to discuss this matter. I don’t want to get into these details. Trabzonspor’s expectation is €40m and above,” he said.
“They say there’s an agreement with Oulai, how is that possible? There’s no such thing. Our player has offers from Europe and Türkiye. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s a success. They’re talking about 35-40 million for a player we bought for €5m. We have a figure in mind; the reason we buy these players is to resell them.”
Chelsea could be being used to pressure Galatasaray. Given how talkative Ertuğrul Doğan appears, if Blues interest is real then he’ll surely mention it eventually.