Chelsea have signed 17-year-old Southampton striker Jimmy-Jay Morgan for a reported £6million fee, plus add-ons.
The highly sought-after youngster had been an unused substitute at St Mary’s but joins primarily to bolster the Blues’ academy ranks.
Morgan spent time in Chelsea’s academy at the age of eight but returned to Southampton due to the difficulty of long car journeys to and from his home on the south coast.
The considerable size of the capital club’s offer and his refusal to sign a new contract forced Southampton to accept the sale despite Morgan having 18 months left on his current deal.
The Blues are keen to invest heavily in their academy teams and beat a host of clubs, including Leeds, to his signature.
Southampton manager Nathan Jones had been weighing up offering Morgan a debut in recent weeks after a spell training with the first-team.
“A fantastic player with a bright future if he picks the right choices and people working with him handle him well,” he said ahead of last weekend’s FA Cup win over Blackpool.
Jones’s words came after a run of six goals and five assists in 13 games at youth level this season. The England Under-17 striker was a prolific scorer last year too, scoring 27 goals for the Saints’ U16s before being promoted to the U18s and scoring 13 more.
Chelsea had poached goalkeeper Eddie Beach and forward Tyler Dibling from Saints in the summer, the latter of whom has since returned due to homesickness.
