Chelsea have completed a deal with Nantes for defender Pierre-Emmanuel Ekwah Elimby and the defender have been handed the No. 4 shirt ahead of the upcoming season. The highly-rated £1.8m defender will join the Blues u18s for the 2018/19 season and will look to progress to the reverse team in the future.
Ekwa Elimby has registered up to 13 appearances for France u16s team. The defender who plays as a centre-back, can also be utilise in the midfield role signed a two-year contract with the club.
Ekwah Elimby has a long journey to the Chelsea first-team but can take hope from Andreas Christensen’s rise from the youth side to the senior squad. He has stiff competition from the likes of David Luiz, Antonio Rudiger, Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta, but has some brilliant mentors to learn from in the coming years.
There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding Chelsea this summer, with manager Antonio Conte yet to be replaced by Maurizio Sarri, but the fact the club are securing deals for their young talents is a good sign.
IT"S OFFICIAL #Chelsea have signed 16-year-old Ekwah Elimby from Nantes. Elimby has won 13 caps for France at youth level. #CFC pic.twitter.com/lUCNBiupjO
— Chelsea Fc News (@Blues4life_) July 6, 2018
Elsewhere, report coming from Italy via Team Talk claims the Blues have agreed a club-record £61.7m deal to sign Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain as incoming boss Maurizio Sarri kicks off his summer transfer activity.
Antonio Conte is widely expected to be relieved of his duties at Stamford Bridge as soon as a suitable compensation package can be agreed and Sarri has been lined-up as his replacement following his exit from Napoli earlier in the summer.