Southampton snap up out of contract Chelsea youngster Dynel Simeu

The latest Chelsea youngster to depart the team and sign with somebody else is Dynel Simeu.

The 19-year-old center back had been a free agent since the end of the season after letting his Chelsea contract run down, and he will now continue his development with Southampton. Like Jon Russell at Huddersfield, Simeu will initially go into Saints’ reserve team, but will likely have a clearer potential pathway into first-team Premier League football.

Chelsea will reportedly receive a £1.5m transfer fee (agreed in lieu of a fee set by tribunal, which would’ve been the case due to Simeu’s age), with a “sizable” sell-on fee.

Simeu hails from Southampton originally, and joined Chelsea at age 13 after a successful trial. He would often captain youth teams on the his way up the ladder, eventually finding himself training with the first-team and even making the injury-hit bench in our final game of the pandemic season, away to Bayern Munich in the Champions League Round of 16 in 2020. Alas, he never quite got to make his debut.

Good luck, Dynel!