Chelsea attacker's departure expected to be finalized on Tuesday

Not that long ago, Gael Kakuta was widely regarded as one of the elite prospects in European football. Chelsea were nearly banned from the transfer market following the acquisition of the youngster, and had to fight off interest from Bayern Munich to retain him once that whole mess was sorted.

On Tuesday, Kakuta's days at Chelsea are expected to come to an end:

Castro: "We're very close on Kakuta and we hope to announce his signing in the coming hours" #SevillaFC pic.twitter.com/SKPZNvxoUO

— Sevilla FC (@SevillaFC_ENG) June 16, 2015

Kakuta's tale is a bit sad for those who followed his development closely. Immediately following his arrival from France, his talent and potential was obvious. He looked pretty good in his limited Chelsea appearances under Carlo Ancelotti, and had several Premier League clubs offering to pay large loan fees to add him to their squads.

For whatever reason, Kakuta never impressed on any of his loan spells, save for a few shorts stretches with Dijon or at Vitesse Arnhem. Both of those loan spells brought questions about the player's work ethic as well, though in fairness, the management situation at Dijon was absolutely laughable, which certainly played a role in Kakuta's eventual exclusion.

With any luck, the stability Sevilla should provide will allow Kakuta to blossom into something resembling the player we all expected. Regardless, this should be a reminder that there's just no sure way to predict how youth stars will eventually turn out.