After months of summer speculation it appears that 16 year-old Czech striker Dominik Mašek is finally set to complete a move to London and join Chelsea’s academy.
Back in March we brought you news of the Blues’ interest in the talented left-footed forward, but after featuring at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Mexico, his predicted arrival at Cobham failed to materialise.
Instead, he was given the number 10 shirt at his current club FK Pribram and a place in their first team squad for the 2011-12 campaign.
However, we can now reveal that Mašek completed a medical at Chelsea over the weekend and featured in last night’s 5-1 win over Watford in an Under-17 friendly. He scored one and created two more and is set to join on a permanent basis.
If true, it will come as welcome news to a youth and reserve setup which had been beset by injuries and unavailability in the forward ranks over the past few weeks. Milan Lalkovic’s loan to Doncaster was followed by the sad news of Adam Phillip suffering another serious knee injury, whilst first-year scholar Walter Figueira is also sidelined with a knee problem.
That left just Philipp Prosenik and Marko Mitrovic as recognised forwards and with neither yet at full match fitness after long layoffs in 2011 (and the fact they would both have to feature as over-age players in the academy league), numbers are scarce. Schoolboy Alex Kiwomya netted a hat-trick for Adie Viveash’s team at the weekend but further support is required.
Chelsea have also been linked with Celtic forward Islam Feruz in recent weeks, and are clearly on the lookout for striking depth in the academy. We’ll bring you more news on Mašek as the story develops.