Chelsea’s teenage Austrian striker is set to join Italian giants AC Milan on a free transfer in the summer, according to multiple reports today.
Prosenik, the son of former international Christian, has been with the Blues since 2009 but has managed just 25 total appearances for the youth and reserves teams (and just five goals) in a career heavily upset by injuries.
After suffering a concussion and memory loss in his first season in England, he then damaged his knee and missed some six months, only returning at the very end of the 2009-10 season. After a strong start to 10-11, he once again fell foul of knee problems and missed another lengthy period of time.
Now, with the apparent end of his two-year professional contract on the horizon, Milan have swooped to seal the free transfer signature of a player they were highly interested in as a 16 year-old looking to leave Rapid Vienna to take his career to the next step.
Shortly after moving to London, Prosenik revealed that the decision to choose Chelsea over clubs like Milan or Bayern Munich ultimately came down to off-field aspects of life as much as his footballing education. In Milan, he would’ve been housed and schooled some 90 minutes away from the club, whilst things were much more stable at Cobham and with Chelsea.
Now nearly 19, those are no longer concerns for the grown-up Austrian and he will look to get back on his feet and take the next step in his thus-far injury-ravaged career. It is not known whether he will leave now or at the end of the season but having made just four appearances and one start all season it would not be a surprise if he departed this month.
He would become the third reserve team member to leave on a permanent basis if so, joining Carl Magnay, who has signed for Gateshead after his Chelsea contract ended at the turn of the year; and Portuguese midfielder Kaby, who has moved to AEL Limassol in Cyprus in similar circumstances to Prosenik.
Everyone at TheChels would like to thank Prosenik for his role in the successes of the youth and reserve teams in recent seasons and wishes him the best for the future.