Charly Musonda

Has PTT confirmed this yet

 

He is on the back shift!

 

Well we better just all simmer down and await PTT's confirmation then

 

too right lol

 

Massive coup for us when 24 other clubs were interested. Just shows what a difference that European football and a quality manager can make despite the league that we play in.

 

He knocked back Barca when he was younger.

Boy looks a really good player.

 

CELTIC are closing in on their third signing of the winter window, with Charly Musonda set to complete his 18-month loan move from Chelsea today.

There are high hopes for the winger, who is regarded as one of the English champions’ greatest prospects, so what is his story so far?

Early career

Musonda was born in Brussels in October 1996 and began his journey with Anderlecht as a six-year-old.

At the age of 15, the 5ft 8in attacking midfielder was already capturing the attention of some of European football’s biggest clubs and he agreed to join Chelsea in June 2012.

He later revealed to Spanish publication Marcathat the Blues’ decision to sign his two brothers Tika and Lamisha at the same time convinced him to turn down an offer from Barcelona and head to London instead.

"It is true that I rejected Barcelona because Chelsea also agreed to sign my brothers," he said.

"At the time, it was very important for the family that we all joined the same club. We wanted to stick together.

"Barcelona are among the best in the world, but it was important for me to have my family with me.

Visiting La Masia was very impressive. It was a great experience that motivated me to keep working very hard. I was introduced to Pep Guardiola. It was a great visit."

The teenager earned a professional contract at Stamford Bridge a year later and went on to star in two triumphant FA Youth Cup campaigns in 2013/14 and 14/15, as well as winning the UEFA Youth League in 14/15.

Despite having only made a handful of senior appearances for Chelsea, the Belgian Under-21 internationalist was placed at number 12 in FourFourTwo’s list of the club’s best academy graduates of the last 25 years in October 2017.

Real Betis loan spell

Musonda signed a contract extension until 2019 in March 2015, but soon grew frustrated at his lack of first-team opportunities and asked for a move away.

He was sent on loan to La Liga side Real Betis in January 2016 and became a regular in Andalusia, making 15 appearances and providing a goal and two assists in the process


The youngster was named man of the match after putting in a superb performance during his debut, a 1-0 win over Gary Neville’s Valencia on 7 February.

At the end of the season Betis extended Musonda’s loan for the 2016/17 campaign, but his second spell did not go so smoothly and the deal was terminated halfway through in January 2017 after the winger struggled for games and with injury under Gus Poyet.

Return to Chelsea

After moving back to London, Musonda’s long-term future at the Blues remained in doubt and his father revealed that he had the option of moving on loan to Roma.

He eventually stayed put through to the end of the January transfer window, but failed to make a senior appearance for Antonio Conte’s side in the second half of the season.

The 2017/18 campaign was Musonda’s first as a member of the Chelsea first team, but it didn’t take long for his patience to be tested and a frustrated social media post in October suggested he was on the way out.

He wrote: "You sacrifice, you work hard, harder, you give more than what's expected, and often more than you can, because you love what you do and clearly more than you should.

"And what do you get back? Literally nothing….done.”

"However, with this being said I will continue with same dedication and commitment to this great game."

The rant came after he had made just two league outings, both as a substitute and for a total of 26 minutes, a cameo appearance against Arsenal in the Community Shield and two starts against Nottingham Forest and Everton in the League Cup, in which he scored against Forest and provided an assist during the win over the Toffees.



Conte responded to the outburst by assuring the youngster he would get more chances, while warning him to keep his social media output to a minimum.

The Italian said: “For Charly, he could have a good opportunity to play this season as we only have three number 10s, [Eden] Hazard, Willian and Pedro. Usually we play with two, [so] this season could be good for him to show he deserves to play. He's a talented player.


“I spoke with him. I think Charly understood his mistake and he has to continue to work hard to improve himself, his physicality and his tactical understanding, but he's working well.

"His mind must be focused on the pitch and not social media. I told him this and my task is to help him to always find the right way, not the wrong way.

"Social media is not the most important thing for his career."

However, games have remained limited for the winger as he has only been given nine minutes from the bench against Brighton last weekend and 12 minutes in the FA Cup draw with Norwich earlier this month since publishing his post.

Chelsea then showed their commitment to the talented midfielder by handing him a new four-and-a-half year contract in December and hopes will be high at Stamford Bridge that working under Brendan Rodgers will see Musonda realise his undoubted potential.


http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport...__Celtic_is_the_next_stop_for_Charly_Musonda/

 

Really hope we got the 18 month loan without the recall clause.

Knowing our luck he will end up having a blinder for the rest of the season and end up getting called back in the summer!

 

Fingers crossed he's here for the full loan.

 

Buzzing for this but a slight worry he seemed to fall out of favour with Betis before being recalled but Chelsea

 

Brendan Rodgers says they’re getting one of the shining lights of the Chelsea academy, with Charly Musonda set to join on 18 month loan deal.

https://mobile.twitter.com/ClydeSSB

 

He looks so direct.

 

Correct. Charly likes to go in straight lines.

 

Very exciting signing!

 

Hope so. From the quotes I have read from Brendan, he spoke very strongly about wanting him here for the full loan and for our next European venture next season.

So fingers crossed. Hopefully his Chelsea connection would have benefited us getting the deal that we wanted.