Official: Martell Taylor-Crossdale joins Fulham after Chelsea departure

After four years playing for Chelsea’s youth teams while cementing himself as a reliable centre-forward, Martell Taylor-Crossdale decided that he would take his talents elsewhere. The 19-year-old opted not to sign a new professional contract with the Blues to see out the deal, allowing himself to join any other club on a free transfer.

That would have been the case had he joined Hoffenheim, which seemed to be his destination two months ago. But he decided instead to stay in England by signing with our neighbourhood rivals, Fulham.

Although Taylor-Crossdale was indeed free to put pen to paper on his Fulham contract, this does not mean his move will not include a fee. As per Premier League and EFL Rules, signing an out-of-contract player under the age of 24 from a team in our top four leagues carries a compensation obligation to his previous club.

This is not really unusual to us, as we have seen this scenario played out with Ethan Ampadu’s arrival and Dominic Solanke’s departure in recent years. And those things can drag out for a while, especially if the clubs do not find an agreement out of the Professional Football Compensation Committee tribunal.

But at least for now, neither Fulham nor Martell are worrying about these details. Martell himself is eager to get a first-team spot, looking to impress former Chelsea midfielder and current Fulham manager Scott Parker to make his case.

“I’m ready to go here and show everyone what I can do. I felt coming here presented the perfect opportunity to push into the first team. I had a look at the pathway into the first team and I’m hopeful I can breakthrough to impress the manager.

“I’m a player who likes to run in-behind. I’m good in the box and know where the net is, I hope I can score lots of goals for Fulham.”

-Martell Taylor-Crossdale; Source: Fulham FC

Good luck, Martell!