By Pete O'Rourke, Transfer Correspondent

8th Sep, 2023 | 1:58pm

Revealed: Chelsea blocked Wolves from signing French sensation Diarra - sources

Chelsea intervened to prevent Wolves from signing Strasbourg talent Habib Diarra in the summer window, sources have told Football Insider.

The Midlands club spotted Diarra’s potential and submitted a bid for the 19-year-old, but saw their approach rejected.

Chelsea keep an eye on Strasbourg’s top talents with both clubs owned by Todd Boehly’s BlueCo consortium.

The relationship between the two clubs will see players move to and from Strasbourg in the coming years.

It is believed Chelsea see Diarra as a top talent and were therefore not keen to see him move to Wolves in the summer window.

The Senegal-born starlet has played three times for Strasbourg this season, starting in two of those outings.

He made his breakthrough as a 17-year-old in the 2021-22 campaign but was not a regular for the French outfit until the following season.

Diarra made 30 appearances across all competitions for the Alsace-based side in the 2022-23 campaign, notching three goals and three assists.

He has played in a variety of positions since making his emergence from the club’s academy – including in central midfield, holding midfield and in a right-winger role.

The 19-year-old is under contract until June 2027 after penning a fresh contract last year (2022).

Chelsea spent a reported £400million on new arrivals in the summer window, including Axel Disasi, Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson and Moises Caicedo.

As per Transfermarkt, Mauricio Pochettino’s side have fielded the youngest squad on average (23.6 years old) so far this term.

The relationship between Chelsea and Strasbourg is in full swing with Angelo joining the Ligue 1 outfit on loan from the Londoners in the summer.

In other news, major update on Chelsea signing Ivan Toney in January.