Romanian club's CEO confirms 17-year-old's move to Chelsea

I had to dig through the archives to see if we had known about this transfer already.  Turns out we did; though back in March when we first heard about 17-year-old Cristian Manea's move to Chelsea, they were just unconfirmed reports.

Breaking: Viitorul's CEO confirmed Manea's move to Chelsea and Ianis Hagi's leave for Fiorentina! #CFC

— Emanuel Roşu (@Emishor) June 11, 2015

There's no official confirmation from Chelsea just yet, so there's still a chance this is all just hogwash and hopeful nonsense from the club's CEO.  But probably not, as the second transfer mentioned in the tweet above looks set to become a reality as well.  By the way, if that second player's last name sounds familiar, it should.  His father is the legendary Gheorghe Hagi, who also happens to be the manager of FC Viitorul Constanta.

As to who Cristian Manea might be, well, that's a bit of a mystery to me.  Not exactly up on my Romanian Liga I football.  FC Viitorul finished mid-table this year and Manea played the vast majority of their games.  He even has a senior cap for Romania that he received after just 5 senior games, which does sound a bit weird and a bit matchfixy.

What a good player Chelsea bought. Cristi Manea is a fantastic talent. Can play at RB, CB and DM. Very smart, very good with the ball.

— Emanuel Roşu (@Emishor) June 11, 2015

Or maybe he's just super good.  Who knows.  He will turn 18 later this summer.  No word on price, but most rumors peg it in the £2m range.  Rosu also reports that Manea's likely to be loaned to Vitesse for next season, even though Romanian nationals do not need work permits in the UK as of last year.  And so it begins.