French top flight club Bastia have this afternoon announced an agreement with Chelsea for the loan acquisition of Colombian forward Joao Rodriguez.
The Corsican side, managed by former Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele, made the announcement on their official website this afternoon and the move is now subject to international clearance, although that should be a formality.
Rodriguez agreed to join Chelsea back in 2012 after impressing for Deportes Quindío and in the South American Under-15 Championships. His situation has been similar to that of Bertrand Traore, who was unable to sign an official deal with the Blues until his 18th birthday. Joao, who spent time on loan at Colombian top flight team Uniautónoma last season, turned 18 in May and caught the eye in France during the summer’s Toulon Tournament.
Bastia finished tenth last season and their squad currently features former Premier League players Sebastian Squillaci and Djibril Cisse. Joao is the twelfth Chelsea youngster to depart the club on a loan basis this summer following moves for John Swift (Rotherham) and Oriol Romeu (Stuttgart) most recently.
You can keep fully up to date with each and every one of them here at TheChels all season long and on Twitter @chelseayouth and in particular the #CFC #loanwatch hashtags.