Chelsea’s Portuguese Under-20 international midfielder Kaby will today end his career with the Blues and join Cypriot team AEL Limassol.
The Guinea-Bissau born teenager, who will turn 20 next month, is out of contract at the end of the season and is therefore eligible to agree a Bosman free transfer move to any club outside of the UK.
It remains to be 100% confirmed whether the move to Cyprus is a loan or a permanent deal but given the state of affairs and the player’s comments on his Twitter account over the last week, it very much appears that he is departing for good and joining on a free transfer before the end of his contract.
Kaby, real name Aliu Djalo, arrived at Chelsea back in 2007 in a high-profile transfer from Portuguese club side Boavista. The son of a legendary top-flight striker Bobo Djalo and brother of Portugal international Yannick, he made 44 youth team appearanced over two seasons before progressing into the reserve ranks at Stamford Bridge.
He made a further 30 appearances at the next level but never progressed into senior football, either at the club or out on loan. He was a part of both the FA Youth Cup and Premier Reserve League title winning sides.
AEL Limassol are currently enjoying a fine season in the Cypriot top flight, sitting third after seventeen games, a place above Champions League side APOEL Nicosia. They have a Portuguese Director of Football and five Portuguese players in their squad, as well as an additional seven players of Portuguese heritage via Africa or South America.
Former Charlton, Gillingham, and Bristol Rovers striker Chris Dickson is also on their books.
It therefore appears to be a good choice for Kaby in terms of acclimatising, although there are some reports that the club’s ownership structure is rather volatile and the team lacks stability. In any event, everyone at TheChels wishes him all the best in his future endeavours.
Kaby is one of four reserve team players who are due to see the end of their contracts come June, with Rhys Taylor, Sam Walker and Marko Mitrovic the others yet to put pen to paper on an extension. Taylor has already spoken of potentially turning his loan spell at Rotherham United into a permanent deal whilst Swedish club Malmo have made overtures towards bringing former player Mitrovic home.
Whatever the news on their futures, you can keep up with it first and fastest by following @chelseayouth on Twitter.
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