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Chelsea want to 'pounce' to sign Frankfurt starlet Luka Hyrylainen - report
Off the back of winning the Europa League on Wednesday (18 May) Eintracht Frankfurt now have Chelsea eyeing one of their hottest prospects.
According to The Sun, the Blues are “hoping to pounce” in the transfer market once their ban is lifted to sign 17-year-old midfielder Luka Hyrylainen.
The Finnish Under-19 international can’t leave Germany until he turns 18 years of age but that will happen in August which is when Thomas Tuchel would like to make his move.
Hyrylainen is a defensive midfielder for the Bundesliga side but hasn’t played for the Frankfurt senior team yet and may never do so if he is poached by the Blues in the summer.
The Finn only has one year left on his current deal at the Deutsche Bank Stadium with no new deal on the table yet so Chelsea could sign him relatively cheaply but other clubs in Europe have also been keeping a close eye on his progress in Germany.
Kante 2.0
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He might not have played for Frankfurt’s first team just yet but that isn’t to stay that he won’t be a top-class player further down the line, maybe even at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues’ current leading man in central midfield, N’Golo Kante, still has a couple of years left in his legs at the very highest level before they need to consider finding a replacement.
So how good would it be if when the time comes for Kante to pass the baton to another player, he was already at the club, raring to go from minute one?
That could be the case for Hyrylainen should he make his way to the capital once he turns 18 years of age, even if it takes a few years to materialise.
We’ve seen a handful of players come through the academy to star in the senior team already in the last few years, namely Reece James, Mason Mount and, most recently, Trevor Chalobah so why not another.
By the time he’s 21, he’ll be classed as a homegrown player which could be crucial for Chelsea’s European exploits should they still be there in a few years’ time so this move seems like a no brainer.
In other Chelsea news, Josko Gvardiol is piquing the interest of Tuchel as well having broken through at RB Leipzig this season.