Chelsea already own rights to youngster, claim Partizan.
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Sky Sports reports that Chelsea have already signed youngster Lazar Markovic from Partizan Belgrade, following a revelation from the club’s president Dragan Djuric.
The 19-year-old is one of the latest of exciting young talents to develop at the Serbian club, following in the footsteps of the likes of Stevan Jovetic and Adem Ljajic, both of whom have gone on to emerge as top players in Serie A with Fiorentina.
Markovic has been strongly linked as being a target for Chelsea, though it now appears that they already own the rights to the player after Djuric explained the terms behind the player’s imminent loan to Portuguese side Benfica.
“It is true, Chelsea will send Markovic out on a loan for two years,” Djuric explained.
“But I really hope that Chelsea and Benfica will not come to agreement so Markovic will stay with us for at least the next six months.”
Chelsea have shown in recent history that they are interested in signing players at a young age and loaning them out before taking them on to become part of the first-team setup at Stamford Bridge, as they are currently doing with young duo Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois.
Markovic provided 7 goals and 10 assists for Partizan this season, and already has six caps for the senior Serbian national team.