Chelsea have signed a 17-year-old Barcelona youth academy player dubbed the ‘new Antonio Valencia’ to their youth squad.
The move for Ecuadorian winger Jose Quintero was finalised at the weekend with Chelsea reportedly having beaten London rivals Arsenal to acquire the youngster’s highly sought-after signature.
Barca’s budding youth starlet had been training with Chelsea since the start of the year but with no contract having been drawn up to make his switch from the La Liga heavyweights to the Premier League giants official until now.
The teenage winger, who also plays for the Ecuador international youth team, made a cheerful announcement to his followers on Twitter on Saturday when he posted photographs of himself signing his life away to the Blues along with a tweet to share his news.
It said: “Happy to sign my first professional contract with this great club.”
Quintero’s creative playing style has been likened to that of Ecuador international winger Antonio Valencia, who plays for Chelsea rival club Manchester United.
The teenager was rated as a very exciting prospect at his former club Barcelona and this sentiment is sure to be echoed at Chelsea.