Saturday 20 June 2015 12:50, UK
Spanish side Sevilla have claimed they are on the verge of signing Chelsea winger Gael Kakuta as he gets set to leave Stamford Bridge.
The 24-year-old is out of contract this summer after moving to London in 2007 from French club RC Lens and spent last season on loan to La Liga side Rayo Vallecano.
He appears to have done enough during his temporary stay in Spain to impress the Europa League winners and it has been reported he will be offered a four-year deal.
Sevilla president Jose Castro told their official website: "Kakuta is very close and I think we will be able to confirm it in the next few hours.”
Kakuta was hailed as one of European football’s most promising emerging talents when he joined Chelsea at the age of 17.
Indeed, the Londoners were accused of tapping him and banned from signing players for two transfer windows by FIFA, a judgement later quashed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The Lille-born Frenchman failed to live up to expectations, however, and made only one Premier League start at Aston Villa in 2010, where he was replaced at half-time.
He only played five other top-flight games as a substitute and enjoyed just 16 outings in total for the club in all competitions.
Kakuta did relatively well in Spain at Vallecano though, scoring five times in 35 appearances as he helped them to 11th place in the league standings.
His move there was the latest in a string of loan deals which have also seen him turn out for Fulham, Bolton Dijon, Vitesse Arnhem and Lazio while on the books at Chelsea.
