Chelsea have completed a £20 million deal to sign Carney Chukwuekmeka from Aston Villa. The 18-year-old has signed a six-year deal at Stamford Bridge.
The highly-regarded star had drawn interest from around Europe having reached the final 12 months of his contract at Villa Park. Chukwuemeka made 12 Premier League appearances last term and started twice and that has proved enough to persuade the Blues to make a move, with teams such as Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund also linked to a transfer.
The midfielder recently helped England to success in the Under-19 European Championship alongside Harvey Vale, Bashir Humphreys and Teddy Sharman-Lowe and netted in the final of the competition. The youngster further earned a place in UEFA's team of the tournament.
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The England youth international follows in the wake of Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly, while the Blues have made a number of exciting moves for their development team too in the form of Omari Hutchinson from Arsenal and Eddie Beach from Southampton, among others. Chukwuekmeka plans to rise to the top with Chelsea however.
He said: "It’s been quite hectic but I couldn’t get Chelsea out of my head the last few days so I’m just happy and relieved that it’s all done. I’m so excited and just can’t wait to get on the pitch, meet all the players and try to win games and trophies with Chelsea."
Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital duo Bedhdad Eghbali and Jose E. Feliciano are excited by the prospect of bringing one of Europe's top talents to Stamford Bridge.
Boehly said: "Carney is one of the most exciting young players in Europe so we are really looking forward to seeing him in action at Stamford Bridge. We are delighted to be able to bring him to Chelsea and add such a talented young individual to our squad for the new season and beyond."
Eghbali and Feliciano added: "We are building for both the now and the future so signing one of the hottest teenage talents in English football fits with both those aims. Chelsea have shown that young potential can be fulfilled at this club and under our ownership we are determined this will continue. We are looking forward to Carney thriving here."
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