Chelsea FC Sign Romanian Defender Christian Manea
Reports have come out this week that Chelsea FC have signed young Romanian right back Cristian Manea from Viitorul Constanta. The news that Cristian Manea was heading to Chelsea FC was first broken back in September 2014 but that was nothing official. In September the reports came out claiming that Chelsea FC and Viitorul had a deal in place but that nothing was a done deal.
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This time around, the reports claim that the clubs have come to an agreement and that the reported fee is £2.3million for the 17 year old. There was reported interest from other clubs such as Arsenal and Villareal but Chelsea FC appear to have swooped in just in time to seal the youngster’s signature.
Manea is a Viitorul academy graduate and has been playing for the senior since he was just 16 years old. Last season the youngster only made five appearances but he has tripled that in this campaign with 16 so far in all competitions. He is obviously not a regular starter yet for the club but that would be asking for quite a lot from a player set to turn 18 in August.
He does have immense potential and Romania national team coach Victor Piturca has recognized it. After just 5 appearances with the Constanta first team, Piturca called up Manea to the senior national team and handed him a start against Albania. Manea played all 90 minutes against Albania and became the youngest player to ever suit up for the Romanian national team, breaking a record that was set all the way back in 1928.
Even with a senior national team call up and over 20 first team appearances under his belt, this talented youngster may not be quite ready for the limelight. The Daily Mail reports that he will be sent on loan to either Vitesse Arnhem or Real Mallorca where he will hopefully get regular first team football.
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He is not qualified to receive a work permit because of his low transfer fee and the fact that he has not played in 75% of his country’s fixtures in the last calendar year. That of course rules him out from a domestic loan to a Championship or League One side but he would probably receive more game time elsewhere.
This signing is not something to be overly excited about but it does represent Chelsea FC’s continued commitment to signing as much young talent as possible. The chances of Manea ever cracking the Chelsea FC first team are slim but he is still very young and has much growing to do. The Blues could always sell him off to the highest bidder in a few years and make a tidy profit off the talented youngster.