Fabrizio Romano has claimed on Twitter that goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina will join up with his Chelsea teammates for the first time later this week.
The 18-year-old will arrive following his summer transfer to join the Blues from Chicago Fire in the MLS.
The goalkeeper was the third player signed under the new owner Todd Boehly, although he has so far been off on loan to his former team.
A string of impressive performances in the final stages of the MLS season will no doubt have given him great confidence ahead of this massive step in his career.
Romano has claimed he is set to join up with the Blues for nearly two weeks, before he goes to make his claim to be part of the United States’ World Cup squad.
Slonina to join up with Chelsea
He said: “New face at Cobham. Gabriel Slonina will fly to London on Wednesday and join Chelsea for the following 13 days, as MLS regular season is over.
“Right after, Slonina will come back to USA for USMNT camp as per Chris Smith. Chelsea paid £13m to sign him from Chicago Fire.”
That fortnight with the Chelsea squad will be a great opportunity to leave an impression on Graham Potter, who is currently in the middle of a goalkeeper headache of his own.
He has so far only played Kepa Arrizabalaga between the sticks, mostly down to Edouard Mendy being injured in Thomas Tuchel’s final league game in charge against West Ham.
However, the Spaniard has impressed and has started the last couple of games, despite Mendy being back in the squad.
A year ago, it looked unimaginable that the Senegalese international would be dropped based on form, however the situation is set to play out. It will be interesting to see if Kepa keeps his place for the big match at the San Siro tomorrow.
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