Chelsea denied immediate transfer boost as Arsenal rules revealed

Chelsea have made the decision to recall Mamadou Sarr from his loan deal at Strasbourg ahead of the Blues' Carabao Cup semi-final second leg with Arsenal

Mamadou Sarr is ineligible to feature for Chelsea against Arsenal on Tuesday evening after the Blues made the decision to recall the defender.

Chelsea have activated the break clause in the 20-year-old's contract with sister club Strasbourg to bring him back to Stamford Bridge, with the official confirmation pending. Chelsea will bolster Liam Rosenior's options in the centre of defence after missing out on Jeremy Jacquet, who has agreed to join Liverpool in the summer.

Sarr played under Rosenior more than 50 times for Strasbourg during their time together in France, but the head coach will not be able to call upon the Senegal international straight away.

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EFL rules (6.4.2) state: "A registered player shall be permitted to play for up to two clubs in the competition in any one season where such player; has appeared for his parent or loan club in the competition prior to the closure of the summer transfer window and has either been recalled by the parent club or subsequently moved to a different club on a temporary loan transfer [or temporary transfer where a Premier League club] or permanent transfer prior to the end of that summer transfer window.

"Or; has appeared for his parent or loan club in the competition prior to the closure of the winter transfer window or the first leg of the semi-final [whichever is sooner] and has either been recalled by the parent club or subsequently moved to a different club on a temporary loan transfer [or temporary transfer where a Premier League club] or permanent transfer prior to the closure of the winter transfer window, or the first leg of the semi-final [whichever is sooner]."

Because Sarr did not feature for Chelsea in the Carabao Cup before last month's first leg, he will not be available for Tuesday night's match. Or, if Chelsea were to upset the odds and progress into the final, he would not be eligible for that game either.

Either way, Sarr might not have played in this one anyway because it comes 48 hours after he played for Strasbourg in their defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.