Chelsea confident that big offer will be enough to land player making waves for his country – report
By Abigail Withey
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has turned his attention to Reading youngster Oliver Pendlebury in a bid to sign more homegrown players, according to a recent report.
The Sun claims that the 15-year-old is on the London club’s radar as they hope to increase the number of English players in their development squad.
The newspaper has revealed on their website that Chelsea are confident that they will strike a deal with the player who is impressing as England Under-16 captain, and that Reading will find it hard to resist a large offer.
It is understood that Pendlebury is just one of a number of English targets that Conte’s side hope to pursue during the transfer window.
The teenager is not only the captain of his national youth squad, but is also highly rated by his Championship club.
Chelsea have an incredibly successful youth academy which regularly contests for awards and trophies.
However, a few young players have left the Blues this summer to avoid the risk of being loaned out after failing to break into the senior squad.
In recent weeks Nathan Ake joined Bournemouth while Nathaniel Chalobah moved to Watford.
Football Insider verdict
A move to Chelsea could be the making or breaking of Pendlebury’s Premier League hopes. The London club don’t have the best record when it comes to young players, so the young England captain must decide whether he is prepared to go through a succession of loans before hoping for a shot at the first team. It might be easy to have your head turned when a big club comes calling for you, but Pendlebury will be aware of what happened to players like Nathaniel Chalobah – fans loved the new Watford star and were disappointed that he didn’t get a chance to truly develop and show his talents.
In other Chelsea transfer news, fans have reacted to reports that the Blues are in pursuit of Danny Drinkwater.
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