Chelsea's use of swap deals in the transfer market is more than just a ploy to get some money off the transfer fee they are being told to pay.
Todd Boehly has been using a very American style negotiation tactic to prize players away from their clubs, using a cash plus player structure many times this summer already. Timo Werner was used to try and persuade Juventus to sell Matthijs de Ligt whilst Christian Pulisic was also offered. Levi Colwill was effectively leveraged during the Marc Cucurella deal, though they were officially separate transactions, and multiple players including Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ethan Ampadu, Billy Gilmour and even Callum Hudson-Odoi have been offered to Leicester to reduce the price of Wesley Fofana.
As the window goes on and Chelsea are left with more incomings being worked on and squad players left without a clear role then it opens up the opportunities for experimentation in the market no matter how serious matters become.
