OFFICIAL: Chelsea confirm signing of Lesley Ugochukwu from Rennes

Chelsea have this afternoon announced the signing of young French midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu from Rennes on a seven-year contract, with an option for an extra season on top of that.

The Premier League side had agreed a deal with the Bretons over a transfer fee in the region of €27m. The teenager becomes the Blues' ninth summer signing with Mauricio Pochettino already delivering his verdict on the France international.

According to RMC Sport, the Londoners will be looking to loan Ugochukwu out to Strasbourg, who were recently acquired by the consortium that took over at Chelsea last year, BlueCo. Nevertheless, today’s official announcement indicates that the France U19 will join the rest of the squad in the USA for their pre-season tour.

The midfielder will have made a total of 67 appearances with his formative club since breaking into the first team during the 2020/21 season – making his debut against PSG – and featured in their run to the Europa League knockout stages this past season.

Amid reports of his Stamford Bridge switch, the Argentine was asked for his thoughts "I think you're still talking about, we need experience in midfield," he said. "I have the information you have. My information is a player that is from France that maybe they sign with the idea to send on loan. The information was already in your laptop."

As part of the statement confirming his arrival co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley were quoted by Chelsea as saying, "we’re delighted Lesley is joining Chelsea. He is an impressive young player who has already made his mark in Ligue 1.

"He has a huge amount of potential and we know he is going to continue to develop and improve. We are pleased that he has joined us in the U.S and that he will be able to integrate with the squad quickly."