Chelsea, Bayern Munich continue to play games over youth with Torben Rhein — reports

Here’s an amusing story from Germany’s Sport1, as well as the Daily Mail, which claims that Chelsea are interested in Bayern Munich’s 16-year-old “jewel” Torben Rhein and are tempting the kid with a “lucrative” contract offer for next summer (since we’re banned from registering new players over the age 16 at the moment).

Rhein does have a contract with Bayern until June 2021, though it’s unclear if that’s a professional deal or just a youth contract. Either way, Chelsea’s offer is said to be better than Bayern’s at the moment. If that sounds like Chelsea being used as pawns to drive up Bayern’s offer, you’re probably correct.

Or maybe we’re just having fun at the Bayern’s expense after all the Hudson-Odoi drama (still hasn’t signed officially!) and after Bayern signed two (Jamal Musiala and Bright Arrey-Mbi) from the Chelsea youth system just recently.

Rhein is a 16-year-old attacking midfielder, who was previously part of Hertha Berlin’s youth setup. He moved to Bayern in 2017 and scored 12 goals with 4 assists in 26 matches last season, while already starting to play at the U19 level. He’s said to be a very talented young man, which likely means that he’s staying with Bayern, though it’s still funny that Chelsea are being used as the big bad in the negotiations despite our transfer ban.