Romano: Chelsea remain interested in teenage Russian playmaker

Chelsea to continue their pursuit for Arsen Zakharyan in the future

According to a tweet from Fabrizio Romano (h/t Football.London), Chelsea remain interested in summer target Arsen Zakharyan and will continue their pursuit of the Dinamo Moscow starlet in the coming months.

It is understood that the personal terms between the player and the club were agreed upon in August, but there was no agreement on the fee with Dinamo Moscow.

Zakharyan himself has not given up on his hope to move to Chelsea. He confirmed that there was an offer from the Blues in the summer, and aspires to get his move done in January.

The 19-year-old, who is an academy product of Dinamo Moscow, predominantly plays as an attacking midfielder but can operate in several positions across the central midfield.

In the 2021-22 season, the Russian international scored seven goals and assisted eight in 19 league appearances, playing mostly as a left-sided midfielder and seldom as a number 10.

This season so far, he has gone back to playing most minutes as a number 10, scoring a goal and assisting two in eight league appearances.

Zakharyan is, without doubt, one of the bright young talents coming out of Russia. Despite being young, there is a possibility that if he completes the move to Chelsea, he may directly challenge for a spot in the first team, rather than just playing for the youth side.

The Blues did invest quite a lot of money on young talent in the summer transfer window. They signed Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei and Omari Hutchinson to not just improve their youth team, but also give these players a platform to potentially challenge for first-team spots. It is called the “Vision 2030.”

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They are doing the right thing by keeping their interest alive in Zakharyan. The player has the makings to become a superstar in years to come and could be the latest Russian player to make his way to Chelsea – the fourth after Dmitri Kharine, Alexey Smertin, and Yuri Zhirkov.