Transfer News

Fabrizio Romano confirms ‘special’ teenager has joined his next club after Chelsea, he rejected Barcelona.

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Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Tudor Mendel-Idowu has been confirmed as a new Anderlecht player after leaving Chelsea this summer.

He took to Twitter to state that the Belgian club hijacked a move from Barcelona late in the day after a verbal agreement was originally reached.

It was reported a few weeks ago that Mendel-Idowu had chosen not to sign a new contract with th3 club, despite enjoying plenty of appearances with the youth side.

Arsenal v FC Barcelona - Pre-Season Friendly
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The teenager is more than confident in his own game, describing himself as a ‘special talent’.

Young players have been key to Todd Boehly’s time as owner of Chelsea, with them taking up more than half of the signings made by the club since he took over.

This summer has seen more of the same in terms of young stars coming through the door with the aim of making an impression in the future.

However, this has sometimes come at the expense of players who have spent a lot of their lives as members of the Chelsea academy process.

Mendel-Idowu has become one of those, with Romano confirming he has now completed his free transfer to Anderlecht.

He said: “Official: Tudor Mendel joins Anderlecht as free agent after leaving Chelsea.

Chelsea U18 v Bradford City U18 - FA Youth Cup
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“Barcelona had verbal agreement in place and were ready to make it happen but Anderlecht hijacked the move.”

It is interesting that the youngster has chosen to reject a move to one of the most prestigious clubs in Europe, with it seemingly being sorted that he would join Barcelona.

However, it fits in with his decision to leave the Blues in an attempt to find first team football on a regular basis.