Arsenal and Everton were reportedly ‘baffled’ by the reasons given for David Datro Fofana being granted a work permit ahead of his January move to Chelsea.

Fofana was one of the players who joined Chelsea during the January transfer window. They paid just over £10m to recruit him from Molde.

The 20-year-old was linked with a loan move away from Chelsea during the same month. This was with the view to him playing regularly elsewhere.

But he ended up remaining at the Blues and he has failed to score in his three appearances for the club so far.

The Daily Mail have now revealed that Arsenal and Everton were left ‘bemused’ after discovering why Fofana was granted his work permit before moving to their Premier League rivals.

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Representatives of Premier League clubs have been present during a meeting ‘over plans to persuade the Football Association to dilute their work permit rules’.

It is suggested that ‘one part of the meeting left them scratching their heads’. The report went on to state.

‘When asked why Chelsea’s striker David Datro Fofana was awarded a visa on appeal after falling short of the threshold required to gain a visa, clubs were told it was because Chelsea gave a ‘good presentation’.’

The report from The Daily Mail also lifts the lid on Arsenal’s attempts to tie Bukayo Saka down to a new contract.

The winger has been in stunning form for the Gunners this term. After getting on the scoresheet during Arsenal’s 4-0 win over Everton on Wednesday night, he now has 19 goal involvements in 25 outings this term.

Saka’s current contract is set to expire in 2024, but it was revealed last week that a new deal is now close to being finalised. 

The Daily Mail claim that Saka will be earning ‘close to £15m a season’ with his new contract.

‘Bukayo Saka has agreed a new contract with Arsenal. The deal will be worth a minimum of £10million a season, but in reality – all in – it is worth closer to £15million,’ the report states.

‘A deal in principle was reached last week, but truth be told, the defining moment arrived just days before Saka left for the World Cup.

‘The Gunners, just prior to England’s departure for Qatar, made a last ditch effort to improve the terms on offer before the start of the tournament knowing full well the consequences if Saka went onto become one of the stars of the World Cup.

‘The revised offer was significantly more in line with what Saka is worth and a broad verbal agreement was struck, with the finer details ironed out last week.’