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Chelsea appear to be trying to acquire every talented young player on the planet, Liga MX club C.F. Pachuca have knocked them back in that quest. Apparently, the Blues were after 21-year-old winger Jürgen Damm, who has been attracting interest from England for some time. Manchester United had him on trial in summer 2013, and Chelsea have been linked to him in a low-key sort of way for a few months.
But Pachucha don't think it's time for him to be leaving Mexico just yet.
I believe that Jurgen has to achieve some important goals in Mexican football. He has to establish himself first, seek the possibility of being in the national team and then, as he is young, there will be opportunities to leave when the time is right.
He still has much to do at Pachuca. He needs to meet certain objectives. We thought that (when Chelsea made the offer) it was not the right moment for him to leave.
-Pachuca Vice-president Andres Fassi. Source: Record via Sky Sports.
One wonders whether the fate of Ulises Davila, who's struggled since moving from Chivas de Guadalajara to Chelsea, had any impact on this decision. Unlike Davila, Damm is both a first-team regular and has EU citizenship*, so there's less to worry about on that front, but I can certainly understand clubs who want to make sure their players are as ready as possible to face life in Europe.
He has German citizenship, which I believe is given out to anyone with an umlaut in their name.
One imagines that we'll be seeing Damm's name again in future, so he's one to keep an eye on. Perhaps next summer?