Chelsea reach ‘total agreement’ with AS Monaco for Benôit Badiashile transfer — reports

Chelsea have reportedly reached “total agreement” with AS Monaco for the transfer of defender Benôit Badiashile.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein was first with the news, pegging the transfer fee around €37-38m. Subsequent reports have rounded that up to €40m. The medical is expected to take place tomorrow, Monday, with the 21-year-old center back then joining the team “immediately” on a 6.5-year contract (to 2029). Given the transfer fee, one would expect him to go into the first-team straight away — one for the future, but also for the present.

Badiashile was initially linked in the summer, when Monaco were said to be looking for €50m. It seems that we got them to come down from that number slightly, probably helped by the fact that he now has just 18 months left on his contract.

Despite his young age, Badiashile has a fair amount of experience, with 135 senior professional appearances to his name already, plus a couple caps for France as well.