Chelsea have made their first summer signing.
They have agreed a fee of £2 million for Southampton’s under-18 goalkeeper Eddie Beach.
That is despite fellow teenager Gabriel Slonina being set for his medical at the club.
The two deals are not related to each other, and the arrival of Beach will not affect Slonina, who, in any event, will remain with Chicago Fire on loan to continue his development.
Beach is likely to join Chelsea’s development squad.
Both players are very much ones for the future, and there may yet be further developments in the goalkeeping department at Stamford Bridge, with Kepa Arrizabalaga linked with a move away from the club this summer.
It comes with reported interest in Lazio shot stopper Thomas Strakosha as a potential replacement for Kepa.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.