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Chelsea have confirmed that Borussia Dortmund have signed Carney Chukwuemeka on a permanent transfer. It brings to an end a tricky few years for the English attacking midfielder.
Chukwuemeka leaves Chelsea with just 32 appearances in three years after moving from Aston Villa as a teenage prodigy for £15million. He struggled for fitness after a chaotic first season that saw him shunted around during managerial changes and general club upheaval after the Clearlake Capital - Todd Boehly takeover.
The £21million (plus £3million in add-ons) makes it a total of almost £250million that Chelsea have generated from player sales this window. Chukwuemeka is expected to be followed by Aaron Anselmino, who will go to Dortmund on loan in search of senior first-team minutes.
Under Enzo Maresca, Chukwuemeka only played five times, limited to appearances in the Carabao Cup (from the bench) and very little in the Conference League. He had hoped to secure a loan last summer but had to wait until January.
Speaking 12 months ago, Maresca said: "I will say exactly the same thing I have said many times: Carney is a very good player, but for the amount of players we have, we decided at the beginning of the season it is probably better to leave and go somewhere, prove himself and playing 30 or 35 games than being here and play less games.
"Unfortunately that didn't happen. He is our player. He had some minutes the other day, today he was not involved. Hopefully, we can give him more minutes."
Dortmund came calling six months later but found Chukwuemeka sidelined due to injury again. They saw enough in his promise to take a punt on a low-risk fee that is thought to carry a sizeable sell-on clause for Chelsea.
Chukwuemeka arrived at Chelsea as a highly talented youngster but has seen his career stall. He had worked his way into Mauricio Pochettino's favoured team in 2023 but was left on the treatment table after the second game of the season and his first goal for the club away at West Ham.
Now 21, Chukwuemeka has not fully recovered any of the initial momentum behind him but still has plenty of time to make up for it. He was capped by England at Under-17s through to Under-21s level and was seen as one of the brightest young players of his age group.
Chelsea allowed Chukwuemeka to play for Dortmund at the Club World Cup over the summer but had no intention of reintegrating him back into Maresca's squad. They did have a £40million release clause inserted into his contract but were unlikely to have it triggered after his struggles to stay fit.
Chukwuemeka lost his No.17 shirt and was not given a new one after Andrey Santos returned from loan at RC Strasbourg. He leaves to try and find the spark in his game once more.
This is a developing news story that will be updated with relevant information as we get it. More to follow...
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