Chelsea Beat Arsenal To Record-Breaking Romanian After Agreeing £3m Deal

The summer transfer window may be closed but managers are already thinking ahead to future transfer windows so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Chelsea appear to have beaten Arsenal to a Romanian youngster.

Chelsea appear to have beaten Arsenal to the signing of highly-rated Romanian ‘wonderkid’ Cristian Manea with reports claiming the Blues have agreed a £3m deal to sign the full-back in January.

Manea is considered as one of the hottest properties to come out of Romania for some time and reports suggest the likes of Arsenal, Ajax and Inter Milan have all been showing a keen interest in his services in recent months.

However, the Metro cite reports coming from Romanian news agency Dolce Sport that claim Chelsea have won the race for the 17-year-old’s signature after agreeing a £3m deal with his current club Viitorul Constanta.

The newspaper states that the youngster will sign a long-term contract with the Blues when the transfer window reopens in January before being sent out on loan to either Vitesse Arnham or Mallorca in order to get some valuable first team experience under his belt before trying to force his way into Jose Mourinho’s squad.

Manea certainly seems like he has a bright future ahead of him and he became the youngest ever player to play for his nation when he made his debut against Albania on the 31st May aged just 16, beating a record that was set way back in 1928.

With Mourinho splashing out big-money on established signings like Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis in recent months, it’s good to see him turn his attention to strengthening the youth set-up too.

However, as a right-back, Manea will have to seriously impress if he’s to break into the Blues first team anytime soon as he’ll have to get past the likes of Branislav Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta to force his way into Mourinho’s plans.