Olympique Marseille making ‘11th hour’ push for Chelsea striker Ike Ugbo — reports

Chelsea youngster Ike Ugbo has looked likely to be leaving the club for good this summer, having been linked steadily and for quite some time now with a €5m transfer to KRC Genk in the Belgian top division.

But just as that deal appeared to be finally approaching its long-fated conclusion, in have stepped Olympique Marseille with an “11th hour” gazump, offering the same fee (and probably similar wages) and giving the 22-year-old a pretty big decision to make.

Considering that they may have been looking at Ugbo since January, it was about time they got their act together over in the South of France!

Ugbo would most likely have an easier path to minutes at Genk, but Marseille and Ligue 1 would likely offer the greater challenge and thus, greater potential professional rewards.

The Chelsea Academy striker, who’s spent the last four years out on loan and found pretty good success at Roda JC and Cercle Brugge in the last couple of those, spent the initial part of preseason with the first-team and even scored a goal in the friendly against Bournemouth.