Barco

Chelsea have completed the signing of Strasbourg midfielder Valentin Barco on a seven-year deal.

The 21-year-old becomes Chelsea‘s sixth signing of the summer after the arrivals of Morgan Rogers, Danny Welbeck, Emmanuel Emegha, Maxence Lacroix and Marco Palestra.

The midfielder will join the remainder of Chelsea‘s pre-season tour, with the Blues set to face Italian side Juventus in Hong Kong on 5 August.

Chelsea did not disclose the fee.

The Argentine appeared once for his country at the 2026 World Cup, where they finished runners-up to Spain.

A product of Boca Juniors’ academy, Barco joined Brighton in 2024 for a fee of £7.9m.

But he spent just a year on the south coast, and joined Strasbourg the following summer after a successful loan spell.

He comes the second player this summer to join Chelsea from Strasbourg, with both clubs owned by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.

It is the 13th deal between the two clubs since the start of last season.

Jude Bellingham slapped Argentina substitute Valentin Barco on the back of the head following England’s 2-1 World Cup semi-final defeat.

Barco, who did not play in the game, came on to the pitch at full-time and was hugging team-mates near Bellingham when the England midfielder walked over and slapped him.

It sparked a small melee as players from both sides got involved before Bellingham walked away.

It is not known what prompted the reaction, but footage showed Barco running on the pitch after Enzo Fernandez’s 85th-minute equaliser and celebrating in front of the England players.

Lautaro Martinez headed the winner for Argentina in the second minute of stoppage time, ending the hopes of an England side who had taken an early second-half lead through Anthony Gordon’s goal.

Barco, 21, who plays for French side Strasbourg and previously had a spell at Brighton, has featured once at the tournament as a second-half substitute in a 3-1 group win against Jordan.

The first half of Wednesday’s match in Atlanta was feisty with 19 fouls, as American referee Ismail Elfath struggled to keep control.

Bellingham, who has scored six goals in the tournament, also had a confrontation with Argentina captain Lionel Messi in the fourth minute after England midfielder Elliot Anderson had been fouled.

“We were really just discussing a foul, actually,” Bellingham is reported to have said. after the match.

“It wasn’t anything bad. I’m sure everyone will do their thing and make it a big deal, but it was nothing.”