Chelsea have confirmed their starlet Charly Musonda has joined Spanish side Real Betis on a season-long loan deal on 22 June, Wednesday. The 19-year-old can play as an attacking midfielder or winger and joined the west London club from Belgian side Anderlecht in 2012. After continuing to develop at the Blues' academy, he was promoted to the first team in 2015.
A lack of opportunities under Chelsea's former manager, Guus Hiddink, gave him the opportunity to leave Stamford Bridge in search for more regular first-team football. He spent the second half of the 2015-16 season with the La Liga side and will now continue with them for one more season.
A statement on Chelsea's official club website read, "Charly Musonda will continue his development in La Liga with his loan to Real Betis extended to cover the 2016/17 season. This coming campaign Musonda will be managed by our former player Gustavo Poyet who was appointed by Betis in May."
Musonda is a highly rated starlet at Chelsea, having won the Under-21 Premier League. UEFA Youth Cup and FA Youth Cup. He will continue his development in Spain for one more season and would be looking to break into Antonio Conte's side when he returns to Stamford Bridge next summer.
The teenager was wanted my several clubs on loan in the summer transfer window and Talksport claimed Turkish giants Fenerbahce were keen on adding the player to their squad and had even made contact with the Premier League side.
This was confirmed by Real Betis director Miguel Torrecilla as he revealed last week that they had to fight several other clubs in securing a loan deal for Musonda.
“With Musonda, we are depending on Chelsea’s deadlines… there are a few details left in the new negotiation - it’s not simple," Torrecilla said, as reported by the Express.
"It is clear that the player has other alternatives and you have to understand that Chelsea fights for players who are world elite," he added.
Based on stats from Whoscored.com, only Neymar completed more successful dribbles in La Liga in 2016 than Musonda. Given his talent and incredible growth over the last season, it should not have been a surprise that several clubs were after his signature.
