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According to ESPN, Chelsea midfielder and USA youth international Kyle Scott has handed in a transfer request. The 18-year-old already has a suite of top European clubs interested in him apparently.
Scott signed a new deal with Chelsea just a couple months ago, theoretically tying him to the club until June 2019. He joined the club at the U10 level and also represented England's U16 and Ireland's U15 teams. Scott is now playing for the USA U18s, and he's also eligible for the Italian national team.
He made his debut in Chelsea's U18 side in 2013-14 as a 15-year-old and became a key piece of the squad in the next term, winning the UEFA Youth League and the FA Youth Cup in the process. As of late, Scott has been a part of the Blues' U21 squad and also contributed to the team's second winning run in the UEFA Youth League this season.
It's hard to ignore the timing of this story, coming hot on the heels of the whole Domingos Quina transfer to West Ham and the Dominic Solanke contract demands and associated rumors of going to Arsenal. If that last bit sounds like deja vu, here's a lovely tweet from the incomparable @chelseayouth.
— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) April 27, 2016
That said, given the high wages Chelsea have been willing to pay the likes of Loftus-Cheek and Chalobah and other highly promising prospects, it's hardly surprising that some would try to push for a similar early payday. Scott supposedly wanting to leave may or may not have anything to do with financial things and perhaps everything to do with being unable to manage his expectations or behaviours or perceived opportunities at Chelsea. But doing so in the current narrative environment and just two months after singing a new contract is shady timing and opportunistic agenting at best, and reprehensible behavior at worst.
Scott was left out of the matchday squad entirely in Wednesday's FA Youth Cup final, a game he possibly would've started or at least certainly would've been a part of otherwise.