£4m move confirmed by Chelsea as another starlet departs | OneFootball

Chelsea have just confirmed the sale of academy talent Michael Golding to Leicester for a fee of around £4m, with the central midfielder leaving after years at the Bridge.

“I’m really looking forward to making leaps and bounds in my career here at Leicester and working hard to help the team as much as I can,” the 18 year old said in his announcement.

Golding made his first team Chelsea debut this season in the FA Cup against Preston in January as a sub. After impressing through every level of the academy. He’s played through the age groups for England too, most recently featuring for the U18 team.

There were high hopes for Golding in the academy, but his prospects of first team minutes were slim, and clearly a loan didn’t appeal to him. Newly promoted Leicester didn’t hesitate to offer the youngster a chance to start playing in the Premier League.

Another talent departs

It’s certainly an interesting deal, one made even more interesting by the fact that it’s come directly off the back of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s move the other way.

One can only assume that, while the two deals aren’t directly connected in terms of paperwork, that various agreements that benefit both teams’ FFP situations have been agreed here. Chelsea

Golding is a super talent and we’re sad to see him go. But from his perspective, we can see why. Players like KDH are arriving in every window, and there’s such a crowded pathway to the first team right now that an 18 year old academy product must feel like there’s no chance of ever breaking into the club’s plans.

A move to a Premier League team where he can start to play regularly is the obvious right move for his career, and we look forward to seeing how he gets on.