Chelsea have reportedly missed out on the chance to sign teenage goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina from MLS side Chicago Fire due to the sanctions placed on Roman Abramovich by the UK Government.
The Blues are effectivley under a transfer embargo as Abramovich and his assets remain under sanctions due to his alleged close personal links to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Chelsea have been given a limited scope from which they can operate under a special license, though this does not stretch far enough to allow them to resume any transfer negotiations that were ongoing prior to when the sanctions were imposed.
READ MORE: Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: Hazard statement, Rice Liverpool boost, Azpilicueta uncertainty
That means a deal for Slonina can no longer go ahead, with transfer guru Fabrizio Romano revealing that the Blues had planned on signing the young keeper for around £5.5million before loaning him back to Chicago Fire until 2023 before they were placed under sanction.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano said: “Before the sanctions, at the end of January, Chelsea were working behind the scenes to sign Slonina. They had contacts with the agents of the player and the club and the goal was pretty clear, to sign him in the summer and then loan him to Chicago until June or December 2023. Now everything has broken down because Chelsea are not able to proceed in the negotiations. Everything is on standby.”
The 17-year-old seemingly confirmed the news via his personal Twitter account, telling his followers it’s “all about how you bounce back” and “turn your setbacks into comebacks.” Slonina’s transfer was not a huge priority for Chelsea and so it’s uncertain whether they will be looking to pick back up where they left off once new owners for the Blues can be found. By that time, they might already have missed the boat on a goalkeeper tipped to be the next Manuel Neuer or Gianluigi Buffon.
Who is Gabriel Slonina?
Born in Illinois in 2004 to a Polish-American family, Slonina joined the youth academy of Chicago Fire in 2016 before signing his first professional contract with the club three years later. This contract made him the second-youngest signing in MLS history at the age of just 14 and he went on to become the youngster starting goalkeeper in league history when he made his debut in August 2021 at just 17 years and 81 days old.
Slonina -affectionately known as Gaga to close friends and family - made his breakthrough into the first team last season and played every minute of Chicago’s final ten MLS games of the campaign. This season he has kept hold of the number one jersey and has three clean sheets in his first four appearances in 2022.
He has since been linked with some of Europe’s top clubs and drawn comparisons to legendary keepers Neuer and Buffon, something which he is more than happy to accept.
"I use it as motivation," he told GOAL this month. "I'm already getting compared to them so why can't I be at that level? What work can I do now to be at that level? What extra can I add to my game to start to play like them and be where they're at right now? Being compared to them is an incredible honor. It's insane to see my name next to theirs because they're the top goalkeepers in the world. They’ve accomplished so many big things that I hope to accomplish in my career."
