Official: FC Volendam sign Xavier Mbuyamba from Chelsea

Young Chelsea center back Xavier Mbuyamba has returned to his native Netherlands, signing a multi-year deal with recently promoted Eredivisie club FC Volendam.

Mbuyamba was once dubbed “the next Virgil van Dijk”, but his time at Chelsea has been dominated by injuries, including a meniscus surgery that ruled him out for almost a whole season. The 20-year-old had joined two years ago from Barcelona, whom he joined after his original move to Chelsea the year prior was put on hold due to our transfer ban.

The big defender had a year still left on his Chelsea contract, but evidently he was ready for another change of scenery to help get his career back on track. It appears that Volendam are paying nothing more than a token transfer fee, if that, but he had arrived on a free transfer as well. Presumably the paperwork for this deal got done yesterday, prior to the Eredivisie transfer window closing on Wednesday.

There was a decent measure of hype surrounding his arrival, but alas, things just didn’t quite work for him at Cobham.

Farewell and good luck, Xavier!