The England youth winger will continue his development at Allianz Stadium after leaving Stamford Bridge over the weekend
Juventus confirmed the signing of Samuel Iling-Junior after his departure from Chelsea.
The 16-year-old, who has been training with the Italian giants since July, completed his long-awaited transfer to Allianz Stadium on Tuesday.
Iling-Junior was presented together with French Under-17 international Felix Nzouango, who signed an agreement at the beginning of the summer to join Juve from French team Amiens.
Chelsea were reluctant to lose Iling-Junior and offered him the chance to sign his first professional contract at Stamford Bridge, but turned his head when reigning Serie A champions registered their interest in May.
The teenage winger confirmed his release on Sunday in a heartfelt post on social media, which read: “Filled with great emotion, being at Chelsea from a young age has really built me, not only as a player I am today, but also as a person.
“It has been a blessed journey and I am deeply grateful to everyone at the Academy. From insiders, to kitchen staff, to players, to coaches, the list goes on.
“I would also like to thank the people around me, my family and friends who have consistently supported me.
“This is just the beginning. I wish Chelsea the best for the coming seasons.”
# Under19 | We welcome two new bianconeri ????
Samuel Iling Jr, English striker born in 2003 ????????????????????????????
Felix Nzouango Bikien, French defender born in 2003 ????????Welcome, guys ⚪️⚫️ pic.twitter.com/e9cDSOyYUv
– JuventusFC Youth (@JuventusFCYouth) 1 September 2020
The likes of Bayern Munich, Ajax and Schalke had also been linked with Iling-Junior before he opted for Juve, after seeing the talented youngster impress for Chelsea’s Under-18 squad last season.
He became the third player to leave Stamford Bridge during the summer transfer window, following the departures of seasoned first-team duo Pedro and Willian, who have moved on to Rome and Arsenal respectively as free agents.
Frank Lampard, however, was able to add a slew of new players to his ranks ahead of the 2019-20 campaign, with former Paris Saint-Germain defender Thiago Silva the last man to make it west of London.
The Brazilian joined the club on a free after leaving Parc des Princes, with Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Ben Chilwell also sprinted as Chelsea offered to close the gap over Liverpool and Manchester City topping the Premier League.
The Blues have also signed Malang Sarr from Nice with a five-year contract, and Objective realizes he has reached an agreement to bring Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen for an initial commission of £ 72 million ($ 97 million).
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