Chelsea decided to sign 18 year old Bertrand Traore who impressed the Blues during the summer preseason matches. The Burkina Faso international made his debut for his national team when he was only 15 and showed incredible talent in the few matches he managed to start in.
The young midfielder spent his youth career with Auxerre but managed to get a professional contract with Chelsea just as he turned 18 which is the legal age in order to become eligible for a work permit. He was kept on trial with Mourinho’s team after some solid performances against Malaysian and Indonesian sides.
According to ESPN Chelsea have had plans for Traore for quite some time now but had to wait for him to become 18 in order to make their agreement official. His current deal expires in 2017 and even if the Blues don’t have much to say about their new player, they are confident he will become a reliable solution for the middle section of Mourinho’s starting line-up.
Players like Traore represent Chelsea’s future. It is well-known that the past two years came with some massive changes for the club which is now determined to build a young competitive team. Their goal is to construct a group that will rule European football for years to come. In order to do that they have to grow their own players and integrate them as quickly as possible.
Bertrand Traore will surely have the proper conditions to fully develop his potential. With players like Oscar, Hazard, Schurrle and Mata around, it will be pretty unlikely not to explode sometime during the next two years.
The competition Traore will have to face though is fierce. He will probably be sent out on loan for one or two years considering the fact that it is close to impossible for him to replace one of the players mentioned before. The Burkina Faso international may follow the footsteps of his older teammate, Lukaku who after spending some time away from Stamford Bridge looks ready to return and help his team. Hopefully for the Blues, Traore will be just as good as the Belgian international.