Olympique Marseille set to hijack deal for Chelsea forward - Reports

Chelsea's promising forward Ike Ugbo was said to be close to sealing a transfer to Belgian outfit KRC Genk over the last few days. However, as it stands, the player could end up landing in the French Ligue 1 this summer, with Olympic Marseille now in the picture.

According to reports, the French giants have entered the race for the Chelsea attacker and they're determined to prevent him from moving to the Belgian league in the coming days.

Olympique Marseille are trying to hijack Ike Ugbo deal. Genk have an agreement in place to sign Ugbo from Chelsea since weeks but OM are have now entered in the race for a permanent move. 🔵 #OM #CFCUgbo and Chelsea will decide soon. OM are also at final stages for Lirola deal.

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 18, 2021

The story also reveals that Genk have had an agreement to lure Ike Ugbo from Stamford Bridge since a few weeks ago. However, they could now miss out on the player as Olympic Marseille have shown more determination to snap him up on a permanent transfer.

Chelsea and Ugbo are expected to decide very soon on which club will be the attacker's next destination. As it stands, there's no clarity on the situation but that should change before the end of the week.

The attacker looks destined to leave Chelsea this summer

Who is Ike Ugbo? What you should know about the Chelsea wonderkid

Ike Ugbo is a product of Chelsea's youth system. He joined the U-23 team at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2016 where he impressed with a return of 23 goals and three assists in 35 appearances.

Thanks to his prolific run in front of goal, the Englishman was rewarded with a loan switch to Barnsley in 2018. Ever since then, he's had loan spells at clubs like MK Dons, Scunthorpe, Roda and Cercle Brugge.

He bagged 16 goals and one assist for Brugge in 32 appearances in the Jupiler Pro League last season.

Really pleased that Ike Ugbo got his goal today. He’s leaving Chelsea this summer, but he’ll be very happy that he got to score for Chelsea’s first team before leaving👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/cq2ggYH5kS

— ChelseaFCBlogs (@ChelseaFCBlogs_) July 27, 2021

That has apparently placed the striker on the radar of many clubs across Europe. Apart from Olympic Marseille and Genk who have shown interest, a couple of unnamed clubs are also reportedly monitoring Ugbo's situation at Stamford Bridge.

It is almost certain that the 22-year-old will leave London this summer, with Thomas Tuchel highly unlikely to consider him for a first team role, given the level of resources at his disposal.

It remains to be seen which club the player will join in the coming days.