Chelsea deny Alex ownership
Written by Joe Kent , 10.03 17h22
The controversy surrounding the ownership of Brazilian defender Alex, who’s 83rd minute goal brought Arsenal’s Champion’s League hopes to an end on Wednesday deepened as Chelsea denied they own the player. The denial followers PSV’s assertions that they rent Alex from the Premiership champions.
Speaking after Wednesday’s match PSV coach Ronald Koeman revealed, “Alex is a Chelsea player and PSV rent him from them because I think he was still not allowed to play in England [he did not qualify for a work permit]. It's not just Alex who's playing in that kind of situation.
"We're proud he plays for our team, but he's only PSV's player until the end of this season. After that, we will be talking to Chelsea about the player's situation. But that's the truth at this moment."
It was widely believed that Chelsea funded Alex’s reputed £5.7m move from Santos to PSV back in 2004 and despite donning a PSV shirt for the past three seasons his contract is owned by Chelsea. It was even rumoured that he would be called to Stanford Bridge in January.
Alex himself seemed to confirm that as he explained, “I know my contract belongs to Chelsea, but I'm a PSV player now,” he want on to add that he hopes to come to England soon.
Chelsea argue that both Alex and Koeman are mistaken. Their official statement reads:
"He [Alex] is a PSV player. His international transfer certificate is held by them and he is registered with them. We have an option to buy him at the end of the season. He is not a Chelsea player and we have no control or influence over his selection."
UEFA have confirmed that Alex is registered with PSV but details surrounding the deal that brought Alex to Holland and the exact nature of any agreement made between PSV and Chelsea remain a mystery.
