Latest news with #Amougou
New York Times
13-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Chelsea moved quickly for inexperienced Mathis Amougou – but they'd tracked him for two years
Chelsea's final decision to sign Mathis Amougou had to be a quick one — but it was long in the making. There were inevitable question marks when Chelsea bought the teenage midfielder from Saint-Etienne for a fee in the region of £12.5million ($15.5m) last week. Amougou has made just 19 professional appearances in his career and was only halfway through his first full season with the senior Saint-Etienne side. Advertisement But while his experience at the highest level is limited, Chelsea have actually been scouting him for the past two years. This is an individual who has been capped for France from under-16 to under-20 level, so it is not a surprise he was on their radar given a key part of their modus operandi is finding young talent across the globe. Significantly, Chelsea were not the only club following his progress, especially after he was voted the third-best player at the 2023 Under-17 World Cup. He made seven appearances, scoring two goals, including a late equaliser in the final against Germany. France ended up losing on penalties. Amougou followed that promise shown on the youth international stage by making another five appearances as France reached the final of the Under-19 European Championship last July. This time they lost 2-0 to Spain. Bayer Leverkusen had seen enough to be convinced. The Bundesliga club tried, but failed, to sign him last summer. Other Champions League teams from across the top five European leagues were also beginning to make their interest known during the January transfer window after seeing him make 17 appearances in Ligue 1. Up to this point, Chelsea had been erring towards waiting until the summer or next year to make their move to acquire Amougou. But in the final days before the deadline, the club opted to bring their plans forward to ensure they did not miss out to a rival. This was not a player Saint-Etienne wanted to lose. Talks over extending his contract, which was expiring in 2026, were opened before Christmas, but no agreement was reached. When Chelsea showed they were prepared to pay the €15million asking price, it was just too good an offer to turn down, even though there was some understandable regret he would not be continuing his progress with them. Advertisement Current head coach Eirik Horneland summed up the sentiment when asked about it by the media last week. He said, as reported by MaxiFoot: 'Am I disappointed to see Mathis Amougou leave? You can see it in two ways. We can note that we managed to develop a rather interesting player who has caught the eye of Chelsea, who does not hesitate to put a lot of money into promising young players. 'They had several meetings with Saint-Etienne. Chelsea has paid a fairly interesting amount to recruit him. Our strategy is of course to develop young players, but there will also come a time when we will have to sell them. Mathis was really interested in joining Chelsea and we can simply wish him good luck.' Chelsea see Amougou as a No 6 they can develop. It is a position they place great importance on and one they want to find more depth for. Among those operating there for the under-21s, the club rate Kiano Dyer and Sam Rak-Sakyi highly but see Amougou and Dyer more akin to Romeo Lavia, who has made just 13 appearances since joining from Southampton for £53million 18 months ago due to injury. As The Athletic reported, Amougou is being lined up to join Strasbourg on loan next season so he can get more regular first-team football. However, the benefit to joining Chelsea now is he can spend the next few months acclimatising to life at their base in Cobham and the style of play Chelsea use without too much pressure on his shoulders. The 19-year-old has already begun training with the first team under head coach Enzo Maresca and by adding him to the Conference League squad for the knockout phase, there is an expectation he will also get some minutes in the competition. Starts in the Premier League are certainly not on the immediate agenda. So how good a player is he? Obviously, it is early days. Before joining Saint-Etienne's academy in 2021, he had played for a local French team, Entente Brie Est, near where he grew up, and Torcy, a club renowned for developing more than 50 professionals, including Paul Pogba. He was also enrolled in the nation's famous coaching centre at Clairefontaine. Advertisement Former Saint-Etienne coach Olivier Dall'Oglio, who gave Amougou the majority of his senior Saint-Etienne appearances before being replaced by Horneland in December, was clearly an admirer. Speaking about Amougou in one press conference earlier in the 2024-25 campaign, Dall'Oglio told OneFootball: 'Last season, he had a very difficult season with a lot of tournaments with the French team, his school certificate, his time with the pros — at 17, that's a lot. It's not easy. 'Today he can concentrate on football, he is a boy who can do something and I am counting on him. He also has to prove himself.' There is obviously a small sample size of data for what he did in a Saint-Etienne shirt. The fact he is playing for a club that have been struggling against relegation all season naturally means his statistics are going to be affected. His profile on Fotmob, which compares his output to other midfielders in France, showed that in the 857 minutes Amougou had in Ligue 1, he ranks particularly highly for tackles won percentage per 90 minutes (71.4). He also averaged 1.3 interceptions and was dribbled past less than once a game (0.95). However, a lack of duels (45.7 per cent) and aerial duels won (20 per cent) highlights just two areas in need of improvement. Franck Talluto, who currently covers the club for L'Equipe and has followed the club for 20 years, agrees he is a player with potential. But he has flagged the fact he is joining Chelsea much earlier in his development than other players to come out of Saint-Etienne, such as Kurt Zouma, Wesley Fofana and William Saliba. 'We didn't see a lot of him,' Talluto tells The Athletic. 'He wasn't helped by the fact the team is in trouble this season, so it has been harder for him to show what he can do. If you look at his statistics, even if he started the game, he would get around 40 touches a game, which is not enough (Fotmob shows an average of 45.9 per 90 minutes and that is in the bottom six per cent of midfielders). His move to Chelsea is early, he needs to play more matches, but there is definitely a player in there. 'In the first half of the season, he started games, but I think he needed one or two more seasons in France to improve his skills. That is where Strasbourg can help.' No one at Chelsea is getting too carried away. They regard him very much as one for the future rather than the present. By giving Amougou an eight-year contract, he has plenty of time to make his mark.
Washington Post
04-02-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Chelsea signs teenage midfielder Mathis Amougou from Saint-Etienne
LONDON — Chelsea confirmed the signing of 19-year-old midfielder Mathis Amougou from Saint-Etienne on Tuesday. Amougou, who made 17 top-flight appearances for the French club, signed an eight-year contract at Stamford Bridge. 'It's an honor for me to sign for such a big club like Chelsea. They believe in young players and the process they have in place to develop us is fantastic,' he said in the Premier League club's announcement.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chelsea signs teenage midfielder Mathis Amougou from Saint-Etienne
LONDON (AP) — Chelsea confirmed the signing of 19-year-old midfielder Mathis Amougou from Saint-Etienne on Tuesday. Amougou, who made 17 top-flight appearances for the French club, signed an eight-year contract at Stamford Bridge. 'It's an honor for me to sign for such a big club like Chelsea. They believe in young players and the process they have in place to develop us is fantastic,' he said in the Premier League club's announcement. ___ AP soccer:
Associated Press
04-02-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Chelsea signs teenage midfielder Mathis Amougou from Saint-Etienne
LONDON (AP) — Chelsea confirmed the signing of 19-year-old midfielder Mathis Amougou from Saint-Etienne on Tuesday. Amougou, who made 17 top-flight appearances for the French club, signed an eight-year contract at Stamford Bridge. 'It's an honor for me to sign for such a big club like Chelsea. They believe in young players and the process they have in place to develop us is fantastic,' he said in the Premier League club's announcement. ___
