Filed under: Chelsea, Premier League, Football, Transfer News
For a man who claimed there is plenty of time to conduct transfer business, Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas is working fast, as he announced on Saturday morning that the club have agreed terms with Barcelona for midfielder Oriol Romeu.Romeu, who made his Barcelona debut last season, is yet to agree personal terms or have a medical, according to the club. But is in line to be the second signing of the summer for the new Chelsea manager, following goalkeeper Thibaut Cortois from Genk - who has gone straight out on a season-long loan to Atletico Madrid.
The fee for defensive midfielder Romeu - who will, if nothing else, bring hte avearage age of the squad in relation to that of the manager - is believed to be in the region of £5 million.
But the nitty gritty is unlikely to be agreed until after Spain's interest in the Under-20 World Cup is over, as Romeu is currently involved in the tournament in Colombia.
If Chelsea are successful in landing the 19-year-old Romeu, he is likely to follow Cortois out on loan to another club - but the Blues will be hoping that in the long term he develops into a player to take over from the already ageing midfield line-up currently at Villas-Boas's disposal.
The third young player understood to have been close to agreeing a deal with Chelsea was Romelu Lukaku, but on Friday Villas-Boas was cool on the Belgian international striker, claiming they already have enough forwards.
On the day Didier Drogba was said to be on the verge of signing a one-year extension to his current deal, Villas-Boas said: "We are pondering every decision because we don't want to go into the market and make mistakes.
"We have plenty of availability in terms of forwards who can play in different positions - with Nicolas Anelka, with Salomon Kalou, Didier, Fernando Torres and Daniel Sturridge. This is the reality at the moment of our squad. We need to find the correct balance and this is why pre-season is important.
"On that decision, to bring in another forward, at the moment I don't think we will."
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/07/23/barcelona-oriol-romeu-chelsea-transfer/
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