Chelsea to sign Southampton wonderkid Morgan for £6m - Romano

Robin Bairner

• 1 Feb 2023 15:36 GMT
• 5 min read

The January transfer window may have closed but Chelsea’s remarkable business is not yet over, with the Blues set to complete a deal worth £6 million for Southampton forward Jimmy Jay Morgan.

Chelsea caught the headlines with their extensive signing over the course of January, which finished around the £300m mark and saw them capture eight players for Graham Potter’s first-team squad.

But while the Blues can no longer add to their senior ranks, they can still sign players on scholarship deals which is why they can capture the 16-year-old outside the regular window.

MORE: How Chelsea will line up after €330m January transfer splurge

Indeed, they will actually be re-signing Morgan for the club as he spent a brief period with the Blues earlier in his youth career.

Romano reports: “Chelsea have reached an agreement to sign the talented striker Jimmy Jay Morgan from Southampton — born in 2006, new player for the Academy.

“The fee is close to £6 million, including add ons.”

MORE: Chelsea's 10 most expensive transfers of all time

Why Chelsea are making a move

The Premier League’s big guns are all vying to find the best young talent in the country, with the UK’s exit from the European Union meaning that they can no longer sign players under the age of 18 from abroad.

This has placed a premium on local talent, and the belief is that Morgan is one of those players who has what it takes to reach the top.

Manchester United, meanwhile, are also a club in the market for promising young talent and are thought to be close to signing 16-year-old Cardiff forward Gabriele Biancheri, with The Athletic reporting that they have beaten “leading clubs” to the player. Wales Online cited Chelsea as one of the clubs beaten to the Wales U17 striker.

Even if these starlets do not make the first teams of their respective clubs, Chelsea and United will hope to be able to market them in such a manner that they are able to sell them on at a profit in future, although FIFA tightening loan regulations complicates this task.