Jeffrey Bruma signs 4-year extension at Chelsea; West Ham secure the services of Lars Jacobsen
Jeffery Bruma, the teenage defender at the English Premier League side (and reigning champions) Chelsea has agreed on a new contract with the club. The new deal would see him stay at Stamford Bridge till the end of the 2014 season.
The young defender played his first senior international match for Netherlands this summer (July 2010, in a friendly against Ukraine). He is believed to be one of the brightest future stars for both club and country and is highly regarded at both fronts. He was signed by Chelsea as a 15-year old back in 2007, and has since been playing with the Blues’ Reserves and Youth Team.
He appeared for the Chelsea first-team on 4 occasions but all from the bench (he was added to Chelsea’s Champions League squad in September 2009). Currently, he is recovering from a hernia surgery and is expected to be back to full fitness in a few weeks.
The 18-year old said that he is very happy at the club, and can see himself playing in the first-team for the Blues for a long time. Bruma said that his surgery went well and he was recovering fine; he said that he has no more pain after the procedure, and is looking forward to some football action soon.
Just before being sidelined following his hernia injury, Bruma played in the Community Shield for Chelsea against Manchester United. Man-U won that match 3-1 at Wembley.
The Dutch defender said that he has learnt a lot ever since he came to Chelsea, and expects to break into the first-team soon. He said that he knows there are a lot of areas he has to work on before he can be completely ready, and he is working hard on that.
Bruma went on to say that making it to the International team was one of his dreams, and now that he has achieved that, he wants to be a permanent fixture in both the national team and at Chelsea. He believes that consistent performances at Chelsea are the only way he would be able to get into the national team on a regular basis, so he has added incentive for both.
He added that he did not expect to be in the Netherlands team for another 2 years or so, but the early call has come as a welcome surprise. Bruma said that he is ready to take the next step now and is up for the challenge.
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti said that Bruma is one of the most promising young players in his squad. The Italian added that ever since he took over the club, he has seen great improvements in the player, and he continues to grow as a player.
Meanwhile, news from another London club, West Ham United, is that they have completed the singing of the Danish International Lars Jacobsen from Blackburn Rovers.
The move was one of the last-minute deals and was approved by the Premier League after looking into the claims made by West Ham. The 30-year old right-back has played 30 games for his national team and only 16 for Rovers. He was signed by Blackburn back in June 2009, but was never able to get himself in the starting-11.
West Ham, who have not managed to win a single match this season, also secured the services of Belgian Ruud Boffin from Dutch team MVV Maastricht. The goalkeeper is believed to have signed a 2-year contract, and will stay with the club till the end of 2012.
The 30-year old started his playing career at Odense in the Danish League. Later, he also played in Germany for Hamburg and moved on to Copenhagen and later to Nuremberg before making his way to English football. He was signed by Sam Allardyce for Rovers in June 2009.
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