Chelsea are reportedly close to the signing of 15-year old Dutch starlet Jayden Braaf. The 15-year-old has had big clubs of England like Manchester City and Manchester United chasing him but it is the men from West London who have ended up with his signature.
They have apparently reached an agreement with the West London club This was confirmed by Stefano van Delden, Braaf’s uncle and agent. He said: “We have reached an agreement in principle for Jayden to join Chelsea. “But it is a verbal agreement. Nothing has yet been put in writing.”
He has been excellent so far with his performances for PSV Eindhoven’s youth side and has naturally caused quite a stir amongst many clubs in Europe. He has played six matches for the national team scoring once in the process in their u-15 side.
West Ham United, Bayern Munich and his former club Ajax are also said to be interested in him. He ideally plays forward but can easily switch between his role as a winger or a number nine depending on his team’s requirement.
He will turn 16 on August 31 this year and he will be eligible to sign his first professional contract with the Blues. Speaking of the Blues, Michael Emanelo, upon his resignation said that he was proud of Chelsea’s loan system and went on to add that Andreas Christensen was proof that the system worked wonders. He went on to add that Jake Clarke-Salter and Fikayo Tomori will soon follow in on the footsteps of the young Dan.
Keeping in sync with Emanelo’s statement, Chelsea have produced excellent youth products over the last few years. These kids have won every major trophy at the youth level and they have then been loaned out for further development to clubs in the lower divisions as well as abroad.
However, things haven’t always gone smoothly for most of these youngsters. Christensen is only the second of the young players, after John Terry, to make a name for himself in the senior club ranks and the only one in Emanelo’s ten-year tenure at the club, while a number of others have not been able to grab the same limelight.
Chelsea have lost a number of fine young products in the process, many they have gone on to rue.
Chelsea and Braaf will now be hoping that they can produce something more with his aforesaid contract. Only time will tell whether it was the right move but for now, it can be said that Braaf is taking a big risk by joining a mechanical club like Chelsea.
