Chelsea, Monaco agree transfer for 17-year-old youth star Jonathan Panzo — report

Director of Football Michael Emenalo is not looking to run another Loan Army at AS Monaco. He left his pet project behind when he left Chelsea back in November. Instead, he’s simply snapping up young talent as per the usual m.o. of the Principality side. The pathway to the first-team there is a lot shorter than at Chelsea, after all.

Having flipped Fabinho for a cool €50m and Thomas Lemar for even more already this summer, he’s turned around and spent an eyebrow-raising €20m on 16-year-old Willem Geubbels from Lyon and is now looking to add 17-year-old Jonathan Panzo from Chelsea.

Alas, we’re not going to collect anywhere near that amount. The first-year scholar is set to command about €3m (with possible bonuses) and save for any “gentlemen's agreements” (as rumored in the case of Bertrand Traore), there cannot be any buyback clauses as per French FA regulations.

According to RMC, Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Valencia were interested as well, but Monaco probably had the inside track thanks to Emenalo.

Panzo, a towering central defender, was one of England’s best players as they won the U17 World Cup in October and now, like Harvey St Clair just a few days ago, he’s opted to switch to the express tracks as far as first-team prospects are concerned. It’s the unfortunate side effect of a well-stocked youth academy and very limited first-team opportunities and even fewer first-team places. That might change in the future, but for now, this is our reality.

While the transfer is not yet official, it seems only a matter crossing and dotting and signing.