Chelsea agree to sign Valentín Barco from RC Strasbourg — reports

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA - MARCH 31: Valentin Barco of Argentina celebrates after scoring his team's fifth goal during the international friendly match between Argentina and Zambia at Estadio Alberto J. Armando on March 31, 2026 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo by Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images) | Getty Images Valentín Barco and Enzo Fernández shared a pitch last week as Argentina beat Zambia, 5-0 in a friendly — with Barco himself scoring the fifth — and they might be sharing a pitch next season as well, with the former agreeing to join the latter at Chelsea.

Or they might not, with the former instead replacing the latter, who seems to be one foot out the door already, especially after the events (and decisions, and quotes) of the past couple weeks. Either way, as per Fabrizio Romano , the 21-year-old Barco (who looks, at most, 12) has agreed to join the Blues from our sister club RC Strasbourg in the summer. This follows other reports from the last couple days, such as the original exclusive from ESPN Argentina , confirming the same.

Bayern Munich were rumored to be interested as well, but our BlueCo bonds were stronger. Barco, like Enzo, got his career started at Boca Juniors, before ending up in England with Brighton & Hove Albion. He played sparingly however and would be loaned out for his second season, first to Sevilla in Spain and then to Strasbourg in France.

He did well there and would stay permanently for just €9m last summer. We might remember him as a left back from his previous brief stint in the Premier League, but he’s now a central midfielder. And he’s now also earned the step up to Chelsea, I guess.