Reports: Chelsea mulling over move for USMNT’s Yunus Musah
Chelsea have joined the race to sign USMNT international Yunus Musah, as per latest reports.
The Valencia midfielder has drawn plenty of rave reviews for his exploits in the World Cup, playing on the right side of a three-man midfield engine alongside skipper Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie.
His dream journey in the most celebrated international tournament was put to bed by Netherlands in the round-of-16, as the United States lost 3-1 but had lots to cheer about after a promising show.
Musah has cemented a place on the side through his brilliant form for Valencia for the last 18 months or so. Still only 20, he has amassed over 80 appearances for Los Che and is one of Gennaro Gattuso’s key allies.
After seven years in the Arsenal academy, Musah moved to Valencia, where he was quickly fast-tracked into the first team setup.
The Gunners, in fact, are frontrunners to his signature, having tabled a bid as well for their former youth prospect. Musah has a whopping £86m release clause in his current contract at Valencia that runs until 2026. Supposedly, Liverpool along with Arsenal had a bid rejected for his services.
And now it appears Chelsea are set to rival the two clubs in their pursuit of Musah. The Blues have visibly adopted a new structure that follows a youth-driven framework of snapping up the best pool of youngsters from Europe.
They’ve already invested in the likes of Cesare Casadei and tied down academy starlets Trevoh Chalobah and Armando Broja to bumper long-term deals.
With Jorginho and N’Golo Kante in their 30s and their contracts running down, it only makes more sense to recruit energetic players in the midfield who are creative. Musah certainly fits this mould, known for his excellent technical abilities on the ball and relentless ardour on the pitch.
Valencia, meanwhile, will hope to extend his stay and improve on their current 10th place position in the La Liga table with just five wins in 14 matches.
They face-off against Nottingham Forest in a friendly fixture on December 16th.
-Roy Akarshak
Twitter: @AkarshakRoy
Photo: Tasnim News Agency. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.