According to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea have reached an agreement with Chicago Fire for goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina, with the fee reported to be £12.3 million, with add-ons included. The American U20 international and his agent are due to fly to London imminently to complete his medical and sign his contract, with the young goalkeeper staying in the MLS for the rest of their season and joining up with the West London club on January 1st.
Gabriel Slonina: Chelsea Win the Race for Promising Young Goalkeeper
Excl: Gaga Slonina to Chelsea, here we go! Agreement with Chicago Fire for $15m, add-ons included. Talented GK and his agent will fly to London on Sunday to complete medical and sign. 🚨🔵🇺🇸 #CFC
Slonina will finish the season with Chicago before joining Chelsea on January 1. pic.twitter.com/g2l4Ksbsoj
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 30, 2022
Gabriel Slonina Picks Chelsea as His Next Destination.
Slonina at 18 years old, has become the youngest starting goalkeeper in MLS history, which has seen him make 34 starts since his debut on Aug. 4 2021. The American has excelled this season, which has resulted in attracting interest from a number of clubs including Real Madrid, but Chelsea have been relentless in their pursuit of the youngster.
The Stamford Bridge hierarchy had been in negotiations for Slonina for several months before Clearlake completed their takeover of the club, with the sale of the team understandably pausing negotiations between the two clubs, and despite interest from Real Madrid, Chelsea were always firm favourites to win the race for the American.
The Future for Slonina
Kepa Arrizabalaga has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge, with the Spaniard becoming a target for Serie A side Napoli. The form of Edouard Mendy was called into question at various points last season which has led to Chelsea identifying Slonina as a long-term solution to their goalkeeping woes.
Welcome to Chelsea Gabriel Slonina
🔹Home of champions
🔹The best club in London and the world. pic.twitter.com/Mm04uHRWMY— badboy (@badboy_jeremy1) July 31, 2022
The “unbelievable” talent will follow in the footsteps of Ricardo Pepi and Kevin Paredes in moving to Europe from the MLS in the last year. Slonina showed his outstanding ability when breaking into the Chicago Fire first team where he kept an exceptional ten clean sheets in his first 23 matches this season. His excellent form saw him called up to the US Men’s National Team, and despite not earning his first cap the young goalkeeper is determined to make the squad for the World Cup in Qatar, fighting off the fierce competition from rivals such as Matt Turner and Ethan Horvath.
