Chelsea have completed the signing of Emerson Palmieri from AS Roma, with the defender signing a four-and-a-half-year deal at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have confirmed the signing of wing-back Emerson Palmieri from Roma after he passed his medical and agreed personal terms, making him The Blues’ second signing of the January transfer window.
Chelsea have been in the pursuit of a left wing-back since the early days of last summer’s transfer window. Some names were put forward, and several approaches were made. Juventus’ Alex Sandro also came close to joining the Blues, but for many reasons, the deal couldn’t happen.
.@EmersonPalmieri is a Blue!
Full story ? https://t.co/a8VTRAXsQj#WelcomeEmerson pic.twitter.com/AcVjRg5DOC
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 30, 2018
Ahead of the onset of the winter transfer window, Chelsea were back in the hunt for a left wing-back. And, the chase finally seems to have ended, with the Blues securing Emerson’s signature from AS Roma for an initial £17.55 million with another £5.2 million in add-ons or bonuses.
Chelsea had initially made a double offer for Emerson as well as Edin Dzeko, but a deal for the Bosnian striker has now more or less collapsed. Emerson, however, has agreed to personal terms with Chelsea and as expected, signed a four-and-a-half year deal worth £42,000-a-week.
Emerson Palmieri started his career with Santos and moved to Palermo in Italy at an early age. The defender signed for Roma in 2015, before enjoying a truly breakthrough campaign in Italy last season. The 23-year-old featured in 36 games in all competitions, 25 of those coming in Serie A.
Emerson’s performances last season earned him the interest of many clubs. Most notably Chelsea were interested and were looking at him as an alternative to Alex Sandro. Emerson has been recovering from a severe knee injury this season and has featured only once so far.
Despite the lack of game time, Chelsea are aware of the quality the defender brings to the team and have open to his purchase from Roma. Emerson will lock horns with Marcos Alonso for the left wing-back position and will be a crucial addition as Antonio Conte’s men still have three competitions to compete in.
Emerson’s signing will ease some pressure on the Chelsea boss as he takes his side to compete on multiple fronts and will have depth in each wing-back position having also signed Davide Zappacosta on deadline day of last summer’s transfer window as cover for Victor Moses.
