Chelsea £17m transfer deal 'collapses at 11th hour' as Enzo Maresca left with big headache

Chelsea striker Deivid Washington was set to move in a £17million transfer to the Blues' sister club Strasbourg on transfer deadline day.

However, French outlet L'Equipe claim that the deal has collapsed at the final hurdle and is no longer expected to happen, with just a few short hours left to find the Brazilian a new club.

The 19-year-old only moved to Stamford Bridge a year ago for Santos, but found his playing time limited under both Mauricio Pochettino and Enzo Maresca.

Washington is yet to make an appearance under the new head coach and was planning to move to Strasbourg, the Ligue 1 club owned by BlueCo, the multi-club ownership group which also controls Chelsea.

He was set to become Strasbourg's record signing after playing just 25 minutes for the Blues last season, but the deal appears to have fallen apart at the last moment.

Chelsea had been looking to sell as many as 15 players on deadline day, with a plethora of big names including Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell among the 'bomb squad' training away from the first team.

And another unhappy figure is poised to remain at Chelsea at least until January, with Washington behind the likes of Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu in the pecking order.

No reason has been reported for the failure to get a deal for Washington over the line, but eyebrows will be raised that two clubs overseen by the same ownership group could not sign on the dotted line.

On Thursday, Maresca doubled down on his beliefs and informed those currently out of the picture at Chelsea such as Washington should work to secure exits, with no chance of the head coach changing his mind this season.

"The only thing I can say is the ones who are going to get minutes are the ones who I think can help us," Maresca said. "It’s not just Raheem. It’s all the players who are training apart. The moment the transfer window closes, they are not going to get minutes."