Leeds United sign Charlie Allen amidst interest from Chelsea
According to the Daily Mail, Leeds United have beaten Chelsea to the signing of Charlie Allen.
The 16-year-old is capable of playing in both midfield and the attack, he agreed on a three-year contract until 2023 and will link up with Leeds’ under 18s side.
Chelsea and Leeds are not the only teams in the fray. Allen has also attracted attention from the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Rangers.
The youngster is the youngest debutant in the history of Northern Irish side Linfield. He achieved that distinction in April 2019 aged just 15 years, five months and five days. He has since made a total of four appearances.
Linfield is currently managed by former Leeds star David Healy. Whether this gave them an edge in negotiations is not clear.
Allen has been likened to Chelsea starlet Billy Gilmour. The Blues youngster enjoyed a breakthrough in the second half of the 2019-20 season.
He might have played a bigger role had he not been struck by an injury that ruled him out towards the business end.
Frank Lampard has shown that he has a knack to nurture youth and also give them a chance if he deems them good enough. A number of young stars have got their chances in the Blues first-team this season.
The likes of Tammy Abraham, Reese James, Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori, and Billy Gilmour have all become familiar names at the Bridge.
While the club is keen to bring in players to bolster the first team, it is heartening to see them not neglect the youth sides.
We may have lost the fight for Allen, but if he develops as expected, there is no reason why we cannot return for him in the future.
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Chelsea has already signed Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner this window. The club is however far from done and is keen to sign Kai Havertz while also looking to revamp the defence.
It promises to be an exciting summer at the bridge.
