It was never expected to be a busy Monday at Chelsea on transfer deadline day with Thomas Tuchel less than a week into his new job as the Blues’ head coach.
Youngster Jack Wakely has left the club today to join up with Brighton’s under-23s on the south coast for the rest of the season but in terms of other incomings and outgoings, not much more is expected.
Billy Gilmour is expected to remain in west London despite missing out on Tuchel’s first two matchday squads since taking over from Frank Lampard last Tuesday.
The likes of Emerson Palmieri, Marcos Alonso and Antonio Rudiger, considered to be fringe players with little future under Lampard, don’t appear to be going anywhere with Tuchel in charge.
The new head coach is keen to give everyone a chance at the club, a fresh and clean slate for those who were frozen out if you will, as he looks to stamp his mark on the club and try to secure a top four place come the end of the season.
However, if a late option did arise for the German to make some additions to his squad then despite the window closing at 11pm on Monday, he could still extend that by a few hours if he wants to and if the perfect player for him becomes available.
That is done by what is known as a “deal sheet.”
A deal sheet states that negotiations between two clubs over a transfer have been concluded before the deadline, and the sums involved. It is not a legally binding contract.
The Premier League explains: "Clubs sometimes conclude deals at the last minute and it is not always easy for them to get everything completed and sent over by the deadline.
"The deal sheet allows a club to confirm that a deal has been reached in order to allow for additional time to submit the remaining documentation.
"For a deadline of 23:00, the deal sheet cannot be used before 21:00 and needs to arrive fully completed before the transfer window closes.
"Once the sheet arrives, clubs have got another two hours, or until 01:00, in which to submit the full paperwork."
So, clubs will have until 1am on Tuesday (February 2) to complete deals if they use the deal sheet in the permitted time frame.
However, if Chelsea is looking to complete an international transfer, they still have to comply with the FIFA Transfer Matching System (TMS) deadline of midnight.
"When there is an international transfer, the buying and selling clubs have to register it on FIFA's Transfer Matching System (TMS) in order for international clearance to be generated" says the Premier League.
The buying club has to upload all the information to the system and the foreign club has to match all the details.
"Our FA will request clearance and, as long everything matches, the foreign association will issue clearance to the FA, who then informs the club and League.
"The Premier League receives a copy because we need to ensure that players coming in have had their registration transferred to this country, or Wales in the case of Welsh clubs."
