Chelsea are reportedly front-runners in the race to sign Lyon wonderkid Willem Geubbels, having already established contact with the player’s family.
French publication Mercato365 are claiming that Chelsea are interested in highly-rated Olympique Lyonnais star Willem Geubbels. The striker is reportedly being courted by a host of clubs, especially from the Premier League. But the Blues are touted as heavy favourites to land the player.
Willem Geubbels is a 15-year-old striker part of Olympique Lyonnais’ Under-19 team. The forward has turned heads with his displays at various age levels and has already made his debut for the French Under-17 side, with 2 goals in as many appearances for the nation.
Chelsea have always been on the lookout for promising youngsters and have often bought promising youngsters in order to nurture them, either to be a part of their first-team setup, which has been rare, or be sold at a premium to other clubs.
The group includes players like Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku among many other notable names that have been developed by the Blues as a part of their youth philosophy, which has come under the scanner quite a few times, especially after Victor Moses become an indelible part of the first-team setup.
Selon The Sun, Chelsea ferait tout pour convaincre le lyonnais William #Geubbels, 15 ans, à intégrer son centre de formation. pic.twitter.com/GPLDxhZazM
— Inside Gones (@InsideGones) November 6, 2016
And as per the report, Chelsea are not only interested but are heavy favourites to land the player. The Blues have already established contact with the player’s father in order to convince them to move to London and sign for the current Premier League table-toppers.
The Londoners are aiming to bring the player over in the summer, when the transfer window reopens. The other suitors have not been named but the report does iterate that there are a host of other Premier League clubs involved in the pursuit.
There is no indication as to the fee that Chelsea or other suitors would have to pay as compensation to Lyon, if the transfer does end up happening.
It would be interesting to see whether Chelsea would be able to convince the player to move to London and how he develops as a striker.