18-year-old former Chelsea winger snubs Barcelona in favour of Anderlecht – report | OneFootball

In a surprise twist, FC Barcelona are set to miss out on the capture of former Chelsea winger Tudor Mendel-Idowu as he reaches an agreement to join RSC Anderlecht, reports Toni Juanmarti.

The 18-year-old winger came through the youth ranks at Chelsea’s youth academy and was regarded as one of the finest prospects to have emerged from Cobham in recent years.

While he had not made a first-team debut for the Blues, Mendel-Idowu had scored 13 goals and set up six more from 35 appearances for the club’s Under-18 side.

However, upon the expiry of his contract, the Englishman decided not to renew with Chelsea and has been attracting serious interest from several clubs, including Barcelona.

In fact, reports earlier this month suggested that the La Liga champions had reached a verbal agreement with Mendel-Idowu over a Bosman move to Catalonia imminently.

The plan was for the winger to be a part of the Barça Atletic squad before eventually being promoted to the first team based on his development.

But, only last week, the threat of Anderlecht emerged. The Belgian giants were reportedly ready to offer a spot in the first team squad to Mendel-Idowu right away while also handing him a better pay packet.

And, it now appears that Anderlecht have been successful in their hijack attempt. Indeed, Mendel-Idowu has reached an agreement with the Belgian outfit to join them and is set to complete his medical imminently before the move is made official.

A gifted young talent, Mendel-Idowu would have been a good signing for Barcelona with an eye on the future if his development progressed as expected. However, the winger has now opted to sign for Anderlecht instead, snubbing a move to Catalonia in the process.