Chelsea transfers: How Liam Delap’s injury caused a ripple effect across Europe

It was supposed to be a calm end to the transfer window in terms of incomings for Chelsea with a plan to sell, sell, sell.

But when Delap pulled up at 12.44pm on Saturday it sent Chelsea into panic mode, as in the hours before the match AC Milan had completed a move for France forward Christopher Nkunku and Chelsea had allowed Jackson to travel for a medical at Bayern Munich.

As the seriousness of Delap’s injury became known, Chelsea reneged on the deal with Bayern which prompted an angry reaction from Jackson and his representatives.

Chelsea explored their options with a move for Harder their plan A, recalling Guiu plan B and sticking with Jackson as a last resort.

Ultimately, a returning Guiu proved viable and avoided using the final and most difficult option which would have been to force Jackson to return against his wishes.

Sources close to the deal explained that Chelsea ultimately ended up getting improved terms for Jackson, with Bayern now paying a £14.3m loan fee with an obligation to buy based on appearances made for £56m.

A total package in excess of £70m would be some return for a player that cost £32m from Villarreal in 2023.

Remarkably, before all this happened, Chelsea failed with £34.7m bid to sign Barcelona attacker Fermin Lopez but with an openness to negotiate.

It left Chelsea extremely busy on deadline day while trying to complete around 10 deals in a short period of time.