Stamford Bridge side close in on deal to sign young Bundesliga starlet.
Chelsea are closing in on a deal to sign left-back Baba Rahman according to the London Evening Standard.
The 21-year-old Ghana international has matured into a top defender over the course of his time in Germany, first with Greuther Fürth and now with Augsburg, and is a player with a bright future.
The Evening Standard claims that Chelsea are close to agreeing the sale of £16m Brazilian Filipe Luis back to his former club Atletico Madrid.
Luis made just nine Premier League starts last season with Jose Mourinho electing to keep faith with first-choice starter Cesar Azpilicueta.
Rahman will have to wrestle the starting spot from Spanish international Azpilicueta or face time warming the bench and the youngster’s decision to move to Stamford Bridge may hinge on how confident he feels about being able to force his way into Mourinho’s Premier League winning side.
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In recent seasons a number of young stars brought in by Chelsea have failed to secure a decent run of first team action and Baba Rahman will have to avoid following suit if he is to secure a future at the West London club.
The likes of Oriol Romeu, Marco van Ginkel, Mohamed Salah and Christian Atsu, to name just four, have moved to Chelsea but failed to secure a foothold in their first team set-up and have subsequently seen their respective career stutter.
Another prime example of this issue comes in the form of Kevin de Bruyne.
The Belgian international was signed by Chelsea in January 2012 and made just two Premier League starts before he was sold to Wolfsburg.
The 24-year-old has since thrived in the German top tier, finishing last season as the Bundesliga’s leading assist maker, and is now linked with big money move’s to Europe’s elite (via the Daily Mirror).