Chelsea eyeing Eintracht Frankfurt wonderkid Luka Hyrylainen
FT Desk
- 18 May 2022 10:21 BST
- 3 min read
Chelsea will make a move for Eintracht Frankfurt's Finland Under-19 midfielder Luka Hyrylainen once their transfer ban is lifted, according to The Sun.
The newspaper report that defensive midfielder Hyrylainen is "being watched by a number of top European clubs" and that the Blues would be tempted to pounce once the Helsinki-born player turns 18 in August.
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Chelsea are in the process of being sold by owner Roman Abramovich, the Russian having been sanctioned by the British government amid links to Valdimir Putin, now an international pariah following the invasion of Ukraine.
LA Dodgers owner Todd Boehly looks to have have beaten out a number of potential bidders for the Stamford Bridge club - including the Ricketts Family, Sir Marin Broughton, Sir Lewis Hamilton and Stephen Pagliuca - with his initial £2.5bn investment set to be given the green light.
Declan Rice and Aurelien Tchouameni = 🤑🤑
Which central midfielders could Chelsea sign for a far cheaper fee this summer?
📝 @_CameronSmith10 https://t.co/heDtDioBc6— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) May 13, 2022
The takeover is still subject to approval from the UK government and the Premier League, but the latter's chief executive Richard Masters has said that the deal could be concluded before the end of the month.
Newcastle's victory over Arsenal on Monday means that Chelsea - European champions under Thomas Tuchel in 2021 - are guaranteed to feature in next season's UEFA Champions League groups stages no matter their final-day result against Watford.
Chelsea's priohjected summer acticity has thus far looked rather alarming for Blues fans, with Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen set to leave on free transfers for Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively. But with Boehly in place, Hyrylainen could be the first of many players making the opposite journey.
Who is Luka Hyrylainen?
Hyrylainen is a strapping 6'5" midfielder who prefers to anchor a side but is not averse to playing further forward. Nominally right-footed, his style is not too different from former Chelsea favourite Nemanja Matic.
Hyrylainen joined Frankfurt from HJK Helsinki in August 2020 and has already been playing up an age group for club and country. However, his contract is up at the end of the season and with no obvious way past Djibril Sow and Kristijan Jakic in Frankfurt's first team, his head could be turned.
Hyrylainen has scored two goals and assisted two more from his withdrawn position in the Eagles' Under-19 midfield this season, and will nonetheless hope to push Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and Co. for minutes at Stamford Bridge next term.
