Deals that did not happen: Tiémoué Bakayoko, Omari Hutchinson, Xavier Simons

Chelsea’s frantic transfer window still managed to leave a few deals on the cutting room floor, and that’s not including the possibility that Hakim Ziyech has to trudge back to Stamford Bridge with his tail tucked but hackles raised, after his loan move to Paris Saint-Germain fell through at the last minute due to some errors in the paperwork (PSG are in the process of appealing that, so we’ll see).

Foremost among the deals that did not happen was Tiémoué Bakayoko once again not getting out of his dead-end loan at AC Milan. Deals to Adana Demirspor (Turkey), US Cremonese (Italy), and Olympique Lyonnais (France) were all rumored in the final 24 hours, with varying degrees of emphasis, but they all collapsed due to various complications (either procedural since you can no longer “loan a loanee” under FIFA’s new loan guidelines, but probably mostly financial stemming from the 28-year-old’s high wages, which are guaranteed for another 18 months thanks to his Chelsea contract).

“Bakayoko couldn’t join Cremonese due to a few issues [and] there are some problems between Lyon, Milan and Chelsea to end the loan deal.”

-Federico Pastorello; source: Sky Italia via Football Italia

The transfer window in Turkey is open for another week, so Adana could yet resurrect their earlier interest. Some rumors already claimed that Bakayoko would now be interested, but I’m not holding my breath.

Another loan that surprisingly collapsed in the final hours was Omari Hutchinson’s rumored move to West Bromwich Albion.

It’s not quite clear why this one didn’t work out, though it’s probably relevant to mention that West Brom did sign veteran wideman Marc Albrighton on loan from Leicester City, which may have already fulfilled the need that they were targeting for Hutchinson.

Lastly, it looks like Hull City’s last-minute decision to convert Xaiver Simons’ loan to permanent transfer did not come to fruition, with timing of the paperwork blamed here as well.

That said, Simons was already on loan at Hull, so nothing really changes insofar as his prospects this season. And hopefully those prospects will see better involvement than his appearances so far.