Chelsea FC Transfers: Gael Kakuta Moves To Sevilla FC, Was Apparently Still At Chelsea FC
UPDATE: chelseafc.com have officially confirmed that Gael Kakuta has moved to Sevilla.
The player, for his part, seems excited: ‘I’m here because of what I did at Rayo. If Sevilla have focused on me it’s because of that.
‘I can bring quality to this team. I really like Sevilla’s sporting project and the team plays very good football.’
In Chelsea’s statement, the club wants to ‘thank Gael for his service and wish him well for the future.’
Former Chelsea FC prospect Gael Kakuta has joined Spanish club Sevilla FC, say reports in Spain. Having spent the last eight years on Chelsea’s books, Kakuta will look to resurrect his career in La Liga if he passes his medical sometime today.
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The winger joined the West London club’s youth ranks in 2007, where he spent the next two seasons. After being promoted to the senior squad in the 2009/10 season, Kakuta was then sent on loan in each of the five proceeding campaigns.
The most interesting part of his early career was his involvement in the tapping up controversy that came to a head in 2009. Chelsea were accused of tapping up (or ‘tampering’ in the US; explicitly trying to convince a player to switch teams, without the knowledge or permission of his current club) the Frenchman while he was still at RC Lens, resulting in him signing for the Blues in 2007.
Kakuta was forced to pay a €780,000 fine for his role in the deal, while Chelsea were also fined and banned from transfer market activity for around a year. The Blues were later cleared of any culpability on appeal.
Meanwhile, despite going on loan to five different clubs over four seasons, Kakuta failed to receive much playing time at any of them. The closest he came to a regular spot was during two seasons at Vitesse, where he appeared a total of 40 times over one campaign and a half.
This is quite a fall from grace for a player once dubbed by Carlo Ancelotti as ‘the future of Chelsea’.
However, the winger (who to be fair is still only 23) turned things around last season as Rayo Vallecano stepped in to give him a life-line.
Kakuta was an immovable object in the Spanish side’s XI, appearing 35 times with all of them being starts. He scored five goals and produced seven assists on his way to helping his new team finish in an impressive 11th position in La Liga.
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His form itself was also impressive enough to catch the eye of the management at Sevilla. Having won the Europa League for the second season in a row and narrowly missed out on 4th place in the league, Sevilla are a quality team and perhaps much closer to the level Kakuta thought he would end up at.
Kakuta is evidently a quality player, given all the praise that has been heaped on him throughout the years. So with his Chelsea career in a metaphorical car crash, this is great news for the player. Moreover, he’s only 23 and thus still has plenty of time to make his mark on world football.
From Chelsea’s point of view, though, they should gain from it too. Due to Kakuta being under the age of 24, the Blues are owed compensation by any club who buys him, with the Spanish press reporting the fee to be around €4 million.
All in all, this seems like a good move for all the parties involved. Chelsea receive money, Sevilla receive a potential star player, and most of all Kakuta gets an opportunity to bring his career right back on track.
Now over to you Chelsea fans. What are your thoughts on Kakuta’s (lack of) time at Stamford Bridge? Will he ever become the world-class footballer he was always touted to be? Sound off in the comments below!
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