Atalanta: Ahanor on loan to Crystal Palace, then he will belong to Chelsea: the reason

Deal agreed for the young defender's move to the Premier League

Crystal Palace are stepping up their move for Honest Ahanor and have secured the young defender, who is set to move to London on loan from Atalanta. The deal is part of a complex transfer picture: in a year's time, the player will join Chelsea on a permanent basis for €48 million, after a season on loan at Crystal Palace.

Gianluca Di Marzio has revealed the thinking behind the structure of this transfer deal: the 2008-born player will not join Palace from Chelsea, where he will move for 48 million, but from Atalanta. For now, the Blues will limit themselves to announcing a pre-agreement for his arrival from next season, 2027/28.

Chelsea cannot loan Ahanor to Crystal Palace because of Premier League rules: this is how they will get around that loophole. Premier League rules do not allow a club to loan two players to another club, and Chelsea had already sent Alex Disasi to Crystal Palace. So, formally, Xabi Alonso's team could not also send Ahanor to the same side. This solution gets around that problem.