“At home”- Teenage midfielder explains why he rejected a move to ‘favourite club’ Chelsea

Malmo prodigy Hugo Larsson gives reason for rejecting Chelsea move despite being his favourite club

Malmo prodigy Hugo Larsson has explained the reason for rejecting a move to Chelsea despite the English side being his “favourite club”. He was involved in training sessions with the Cobham academy youth set-up but eventually decided against a transfer.

Larsson came with lots of plaudits even at a young age as he was a regular for the Under-19 side in the UEFA Youth Cup. The Swedish media have declared him as one of their most talented individuals who are in line to become future superstars. The teenager even scored a goal when he was on trial with the Blues.

Speaking in an interview with Expressen, as quoted by Tribal Football (h/t The Sun), The 17-year-old revealed that he felt a transfer to the West London side would have been too early for his career. The youngster added how he felt that staying at Malmo would be better for his growth. Finally, he mentioned that he wanted to break into the first team before moving elsewhere.

“It’s clear that it was a great experience to go and play with Chelsea. I trained with the team and also got to go to a tournament in Belgium. I also scored a goal. It (the move to Chelsea) was a little too early. I did not think it would happen so fast. For me, it was better to continue my development at home, at Malmo. I want to break through at Malmo first before I go abroad.”

Wise choice!

We certainly understand the choice made by the young Swede, as staying at Eleda Stadion would ensure that he would be in comfortable surroundings at a crucial stage in his career. That would ensure that he would not be affected by the outside factors or the huge pressure he would deal with when moving to a big club.

What’s more, moving out after becoming a first-team regular would give him more ways to tackle the challenges that would lie ahead of him. Moreover, it would be far easier for him to get first-team football with Malmo than with Thomas Tuchel’s side.

That certainly seems to be the case as the Malmo prospect has already made two appearances at the senior level. Breaking into the first team at the Bridge would have been far more challenging, which would have made his growth a long and slow process.

It wouldn’t be unfair to assume that young stars Billy Gilmour and Conor Gallagher would be ahead of him in the pecking order had he joined Tuchel’s side, given the Chelsea duo’s experience in English football. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley are two other Englishmen vying for playing time here.

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Despite the rejection, it would be wise on our part to keep tabs on the talented central midfielder moving forward. It wouldn’t be the worst idea to try our cards to secure Larsson’s signature in the future when he develops even further to become a better player at his current club.