Chelsea confirm Oriel Romeu deal.

by del_boy Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:44 am

The defensive midfielder, who will cover for the injured Michael Essien, is currently in Colombia with the Spain under-20 side and will now discuss personal terms with the Blues

Romeu, who is in Colombia with the Spain under-20 side, will now have talks with Stamford Bridge officials about an expected €5 million move to London.

The youngster is thought to be highly regarded with the Catalan club and last season made two appearances for them, one in the Super Cup and once as a substitute in La Liga.

His signing will help Chelsea cope with the loss of Michael Essien who is expected to miss a large proportion of the season with a knee injury.

The 19-year-old is just one of the club's teenage targets after goalkeeper Thibault Courtois signed from Genk and a bid has allegedly been made for Anderlecht striker Romelu Lukaku.

Having recovered from knee ligament damage which kept him out action for four months last season, Romeu became a regular in the Barcelona B side.

Chelsea's interest in Romeu, who can also play as a central defender, comes after another one of their supposed targets, Barcelona's Thiago Alcantara, signed a new deal at Camp Nou keep him with the European champions until 2015.