Chelsea are reportedly set to seal the transfer of talented young Barcelona striker Marc Guiu, with an agreement now closed after he accepted their contract offer which included a significant pay rise.
According to journalist Luis Rojo, Chelsea are set to trigger Guiu’s release clause at Barca in order to get the deal done, with the 18-year-old rejecting the chance to stay at the Nou Camp as the Blues offered him the chance to triple his wages with a move to Stamford Bridge.
See below for further details from Rojo on X, formerly Twitter, as he provides this major update on Guiu’s future, with CFC seeming set to snap up another top young player for their long-term project…
Acuerdo cerrado y decisión tomada: Marc Guiu firmará en breve por el Chelsea que pagará los 6 millones de la cláusula de rescisión. El Barça le ofrecía 2M brutos más variables, los ingleses triplicaban la oferta. Más en @Marca
— luis rojo (@Luis_F_Rojo) June 25, 2024
Chelsea fans will no doubt hope Guiu can come and make an impact straight away, however, as they could really do with more quality up front as soon as possible after an inconsistent season from Nicolas Jackson last term.
Guiu is not the experienced name many fans will be hoping for, however, so it remains to be seen how likely it is that he can come in and hit the ground running.
Chelsea used to sign some of the best players in the world for much of the Roman Abramovich era, but their transfer strategy is very different under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, who prefer to bring in the best young players and build for the future.
That will require a lot of patience from fans of the west London giants, however, who are used to seeing the club win the biggest trophies on a regular basis, rather than having to wait for a team to grow and develop.
Still, it seems Guiu is a big talent and Barcelona obviously wanted to keep him, so this looks like it could end up being good business by Chelsea in the long run.