Chelsea have formally completed the signing of
Burkina Faso midfielder Bertrand Traore.
The 18-year-old agreed to join the Blues in
October 2013 from Association Jeunes Espoirs De Bobo-Dioulasso in his home country and has now put pen to paper on a four-and-a-half year deal.
Traore is a full international having made his
debut in September 2011 a few days before his
16th birthday, and he made one substitute appearance at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
The youngster impressed on trial during
Chelsea's pre-season tour of Asia in the summer and played a part in all three games, scoring in Malaysia and in Indonesia.
"I was very happy [with how the trial went]. It
was a good experience with all the senior players and I learned a lot from them," he said. "I was very proud, so it was a dream for me to be there every day and playing games. Of course I was a little bit nervous but after two or three days I was okay.
"Jose Mourinho spoke a lot during training and
he is one of the best managers, maybe the best in the world. He is a very good person and it is a dream for me to work with him. I can now say I am living a dream.
"My favourite players are Juan Mata, Mesut Özil
and Eden Hazard. They're very good players and I am trying to be like them. At Chelsea I look to follow the way of some African legends like Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and now Samuel Eto'o."
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