Chelsea have snapped up teenage talent Yisa Alao from Sheffield Wednesday, beating Manchester United to the January signing.
The 17-year-old left-back has come through the ranks on the South Yorkshire club and made his senior debut this season.
The Doncaster-born talent has now made five appearances for the Owls, two of which have are available in the Championship.
His breakthrough comes amid a nightmare time for the club, sitting bottom of the Championship on -7 points because of points deductions.
Nevertheless, the teenager has still made enough of an impression to draw the eye of the largest clubs within the country.
The Athletic report that Manchester United and Chelsea were in a ‘tug-of-war’ to sign the teenager, however the Blues have now won that battle, signing him for an initial £500,000, with the same amount in possible add-ons.
A club statement on Monday confirmed that Alao has moved to Stamford Bridge on a deal until 2028.
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The statement read: ‘Chelsea is pleased to announce the signing of Yisa Alao, with the left-back agreeing a contract with the Blues until 2028.
‘The 17-year-old got here through Sheffield Wednesday’s academy and made his senior debut for the Owls in August. Alao has since played 4 more games, starting Wednesday’s recent FA Cup tie against Brentford and Championship match against Portsmouth.
‘Welcome to Chelsea, Yisa!’
It’s unlikely the brand new arrival in west London will make an impact on the primary team any time soon, but manager Liam Rosenior has already made it clear he desires to lean on young players on the club.
Speaking earlier this month, he said: ‘People will throw this [at me] but I used to be a Manchester United fan and I’m now massively a Chelsea fan.
‘I remember Sir Alex Ferguson was brave enough to place six, seven players between the ages of 19 and 21 in his team, in a title-winning team, because he believed in them.
‘What they did is that they grew and so they won trophy after trophy after trophy. It was an incredible period in that club’s history. Without that bravery, that doesn’t occur.
‘There’s potential for that here. There’s potential. It’s not reality. There’s potential for that. Talk about Moisés Caicedo or Enzo Fernández or Cole Palmer or Reece James — world-class players and still very, very young.
‘That’s the last word ambition for this club — to create that again. I’m not attempting to say I’m going to deliver that and it can definitely occur. But I won’t limit the ambition of the club.
‘My job, I’ve shown at Strasbourg, I can work with young players, I can improve them and win games at the identical time. There is no such thing as a reason why I can’t try this here, either.’
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