Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign a new striker – 11 days after the transfer window shut.
Emanuel Emegha, 22, will move from their BlueCo sister club Strasbourg in 2026.
Dutch star Emegha is Strasbourg’s captain and scored 14 goals in 27 Ligue 1 appearances last season. He has three goals in four games across all competitions this campaign.
Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest both considered moves for the striker this summer but he chose to lead Strasbourg into Europe – and likely knew that a move to sister club Chelsea could be on the cards in future.
Neither club has revealed what Emegha’s transfer fee is and reports in England and France are yet to suggest one either. It is understood he is set to move next summer rather than in the January window.
Chelsea and Strasbourg have been involved in a number of deals together. Last week, the Premier League side even re-signed one of their former players just weeks after selling him to Strasbourg in a bizarre transfer move.
Emanuel Emegha poses with a Chelsea shirt at their Cobham training ground
Outcast left back Ben Chilwell moved to Strasbourg on a surprise loan deal earlier in the summer and Chelsea signed the French club’s centre back Mamadou Sarr in early June, only to loan him back there two months later.
Emegha told L’Equipe of his transfer: ‘It’s the best thing for my career: I want to go as high as possible, play in the Champions League, the World Cup.
‘I could have signed for clubs participating in the Champions League this summer, but the overall project of Strasbourg and Chelsea appealed to me.
‘Now, I want to guide Racing in Europe. With this group, we started something great, and I wanted to see it through to the end. I’m going to give everything for the club this season. I also spoke to the coach about it, and his opinion was important to me.’
Chelsea’s announcement today calls Emegha ‘one of the most exciting young forwards in Europe’. It is believed their belief in his future development was one of the reasons behind not signing a striker to replace the injured Liam Delap this summer.
Manager Enzo Maresca today suggested Chelsea will rotate between Joao Pedro, recalled loanee Marc Guiu and youngster Tyrique George as their striker options until Delap returns in December.
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Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell moved to sister club Strasbourg on loan this summer
Academy prospect Ishe Samuels-Smith was the subject of a bizarre deal between the clubs
‘We have the injury, for sure, now in this moment, in the No 9,’ he said. ‘The only one is Guiu and Joao also can play there. Against Fulham, we used Tyrique as a No 9, so we can also think about him.’
Maresca has bigger problems on his plate at the moment and has laid bare his bundle of ‘question marks’ before Chelsea’s trip to Brentford, saying half of his team are fighting to be fit for their Saturday night clash amid injuries and international duty issues.
Cole Palmer only trained partially with his team-mates on Thursday for the first time since his groin issue, on the same day that all of Maresca’s South American stars returned from international duty.
Joao Pedro, Estevao Willian and Andrey Santos were unable to train fully after being away with Brazil, while Moises Caicedo likewise only returned from Ecuador duty later in the evening.
Maresca added Delap will be sidelined for up to 12 weeks after injuring his hamstring while Dario Essugo is set to miss the next months after undergoing surgery on his thigh. Levi Colwill is likewise going to skip most of this season after an ACL injury.
