“The player with more goals chose Chelsea over any other European team,” according to Fabrizio Romano.
According to Fabrizio Romano, one player has made the decision to sign with Chelsea rather than carry out a pre-arranged transfer to another team.
He announced on Twitter that Ibrahim Hafiz Umar had declined an offer to become a permanent employee of FK Bodo/Glimt in favor of accepting a trial at Cobham.
Early yesterday, it was reported that Umar was expected to join the squad for what was expected to be a two-week trial by the Blues.
Umar is persuaded to join Chelsea by Sterling
This appeared to be the result of Raheem Sterling’s efforts, as he was largely responsible for persuading him that Stamford Bridge was the place to be.
It seems to have worked as well, since Romano said he chose to take a trial rather than transfer to a team that had just started playing in Europe.
“Despite signing a €500k club-to-club deal, Nigerian striker Ibrahim Hafiz Umar (18) has chosen to trial at Chelsea rather than join FK Bodø/Glimt,” the statement reads.
“Now that Hafiz will be on trial from Ojodu City Academy for the next few weeks, it will be up to Chelsea.”
Choosing the Chelsea trial over Bodo/Glimt, Umar
Bodo/Glimt was recently observed competing in the Europa Conference League; in spite of a valiant effort, they were defeated by Ajax.
Umar’s quality is still mostly unknown, but in the few minutes that he has played, he has shown excellent performance.
With six games played for Ojodu City, he has ten goals, so he is undoubtedly prepared for the challenges that come with a move to Europe.
The Blues have a history of making an attempt to sign a young player before other elite teams select them.
Players like Deivid Washington, Andrey Santos, and Kendry Paez have all experienced this; the latter is eager to contribute this season.
