Chelsea set to sign Newcastle United talent - Fabrizio Romano

According to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea are on the verge of signing Newcastle United talent Ollie Harrison.

He reports the Blues are set to beat Brighton and Wolves to the signature of the highly-rated midfielder, who looks set to be the latest youngster to arrive at Stamford Bridge.

The 15-year-old made 12 appearances for our Under-18 side last season and has also represented England’s Under-16 side.

Harrison is ‘on the verge’ of leaving in a move that comes as a real surprise given our recent improvements at Academy level, with Dan Ashworth overseeing a recruitment drive both on and off the pitch since his arrival. See Romano’s update below:

The youngster won the Mondial Montaigu Tournament with England Under-16s in April, saying this to NUFC.co.uk on his return to Tyneside:

“It was an unbelievable experience. It was my first time away with England for the 50th anniversary of the tournament and it was class to win it, such a big tournament, which we hadn’t done for eight years. It’s something I will remember forever.

“It was a huge honour for me to represent England but for my family as well. I’ve put in a lot of hard work over the years and a huge part of it comes from Newcastle and all the staff that have helped me at the Academy. My under-16s coaches are Iain (Bogie) and Mark (Atkinson) and I work with Graeme (Carrick) and Chris (Moore) when I play for the under-18s.

"Everyone at the club have put a huge amount of time into my development as a player so to go away with England and prove the player I am, playing well in the tournament, showed hard work can pay off. Since I’ve come back to the Academy (from international duty), everyone has been really positive, like they always are, and asked me how it went which has been great."