Chelsea learned the quality of Bradley Barcola during their Champions League exit to PSG, however fans may not realise that he was previously very close to joining the Blues.
Barcola scored fantastic goals in both legs of the tie, and was a nightmare for Chelsea’s inexperienced defenders like Mamadou Sarr and Jorrel Hato to deal with.
It was reported that Chelsea had a bid rejected for Barcola over the summer, with them looking to make a move with PSG’s stacked attacking options.
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Chelsea missed out on signing Bradley Barcola because they didn’t loan Andrey Santos to Lyon
Before he even moved to the Ligue 1 champions though, the Blues were keen to sign him when he was at Lyon in the summer of 2023.
However, Fabrizio Romano stated in a YouTube video at the time that discussions broke down between the two clubs after Andrey Santos was no longer able to be included in the deal.
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He said: “What I’m told is that the situation with Chelsea is difficult, because when Lyon had contact with Chelsea last week, they wanted Andrey Santos as part of the deal, on loan.
“But, the player is now at Nottingham Forest, so this is not possible, and Lyon are not attracted by many of the other players in the discussion.”
The most painful part of this is how underwhelming the Brazilian’s time at the City Ground was. He started just one game during his time there, before terminating the loan early.
He would end up starting off a very successful 18 months at Strasbourg where he would develop his skills, however Chelsea would miss out on a massive upgrade out wide at Stamford Bridge.
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Chelsea given painful reminder by Barcola
Since Chelsea were close to signing Barcola from Lyon, they have seen a number of uninspiring wingers come and go.
Jadon Sancho and Noni Madueke are amongst those who have already left, and Chelsea fans have not seen enough yet from Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens.
Blues fans are keen to see more additions in the frontline at the end of the season, and Barcola will again be on the list of many.
It remains to be seen though if the club are willing to pay the fee required to sign the Frenchman, with his personal CV far stronger than it was in 2023.
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