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Belgian attacker tells club he wants move as Arsenal line-up formal offer
According to a report in the Daily Mail, Charly Musonda has told Chelsea he wants to leave in January and Arsenal are ready to launch a formal move for his signature.
Musonda joined Chelsea’s youth ranks in 2015 following ten years with Anderlecht and is considered as one of the most talented youngsters on the books at Stamford Bridge.
However, the 21-year-old has struggled to force his way in to the first team set-up and has made just four appearances in all competitions this season – including two in the League Cup.
The Belgian under-21 international opted against a loan move in the summer as he wanted to stay and fight for his place but he just hasn’t been given the opportunities by Antonio Conte.
It looks like Musonda has lost patience as the Daily Mail are citing reports coming out of France that claim the attacker has told Chelsea he won’t be signing a new deal and want’s to leave this winter.
An unnamed close friend of Musonda is quoted as saying by the publication:
‘Charly has informed Chelsea that he will not extend, regardless of the proposal and that he will seek to leave the club in January.
‘He believes it is time for him to play football regularly and sees no hope of having much more play time than currently, and to have a big role with Chelsea.’
Musonda has less than two years left to run on his current deal so Chelsea will be forced to cash-in either in January or next summer, or face losing him on a free transfer in 2019.
The situation has alerted Arsenal as the report indicates that we’re leading the race for Musonda’s signature and Arsene Wenger will launch a formal swoop this winter.
It remains to be seen whether Chelsea would consider selling to Arsenal but I suspect they’ll decide to keep hold of the winger until the summer in the hope they can persuade him to sign a new deal. If he doesn’t, then they’ll look to sell him abroad before doing business with us.
It would be a shame to miss out as Musonda is a top talent, however, we have the likes of Reiss Nelson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles coming through so we have plenty of exciting young players already in the squad.