Chelsea star Hakim Ziyech left stranded in Paris after computer crash

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Chelsea attacker Hakim Ziyech was left stranded in France on Tuesday night with his Paris Saint-Germain loan switch on the verge of collapse following a computer system crash. Although the Blues had given the Moroccan their approval to travel across the Channel on Monday night ahead of a potential medical with the Ligue 1 champions, the deal was later held up by a series of paperwork complications between the two clubs and the Ligue de Football Professionnel – French football’s main governing body.

Ziyech, who has started Chelsea’s past two Premier League matches, completed medical checks in Paris ahead of the dry loan but the transfer hit a snag late in the day as the Blues and PSG exchanged and uploaded documents.

It’s understood the LFP’s system also crashed – meaning they were unable to finalise the transfer before the 10pm deadline in France.

Separate French reports suggest Chelsea also sent the wrong documents on three occasions, causing further disruptions to the admin process.

Although the loan deal currently looks off, there is an appeal process that will be launched on Wednesday as PSG look to finalise the arrival of Ziyech to bolster their squad for the second half of the season as they target their first ever Champions League title.

Both PSG and Chelsea signed all of the contracts in time but they were not officially registered before the transfer window closed – much to the dismay of the 29.

There is still a small glimmer of hope the deal can be revived and completed on Wednesday despite the closure of the January transfer window.

LFP’s legal committee will meet at 9:30am UK time to analyse and assess the sequence of events before determining whether the move will be sanctioned.

Newcastle, Everton, Aston Villa, AC Milan, Roma and RB Leipzig all showed interest in signing the Qatar World Cup starlet but Ziyech only wanted to join PSG.

The French giants will pay a small loan fee for the Morocco international, who – if the deal goes through – will spend the remainder of the campaign at the Parc des Princes before returning to west London.

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While PSG were scrambling to get the deal over the line, Chelsea were also occupied with their club-record deal for Enzo Fernandez that was validated in the final minutes of the window.

The Blues held extensive talks and meetings with Benfica before eventually striking an agreement worth £107million.

Chelsea medical staff flew to Portugal in preparation for a medical and the deal was formally completed following a late-night meeting between the two clubs – much to the frustration of Benfica boss Roger Schmidt.

Earlier in the window, the German tactician had expressed his frustration at Chelsea’s “disrespectful” approach to negotiations.

Benfica told the Blues that they simply must pay his release clause in order to strike a deal, despite Fernandez’s desire to move to the Premier League.

After weeks of haggling, Chelsea eventually cracked and put the money on the table after previously failing with a £55m bid for Moises Caicedo.

Chelsea are alleged to have contacted a factoring company so they could meet Fernandez’s release clause and pay over time within compliance with Financial Fair Play regulations.

The Blues splashed a whopping £323m in the January window – meaning they spent more than the entirety of the Premier League in the 2022 winter market.

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