Chelsea close in on Barcelona’s Oriol Romeu – report

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Chelsea are set to swoop for Barcelona starlet Oriol Romeu, according to The Independent.

The 19-year-old defensive midfielder can also play as a central defender, and is one of two youngsters at Camp Nou targeted by Andre Villas-Boas, the other being Thiago Alcantara, who signed a contract extension earlier this summer that will keep him at the club until 2015.

Romeu, who Barcelona are prepared to sell for €5 million (£4.35m), was given his debut at the start of last season before returning to the Barcelona B side, where he remained a permanent fixture throughout last year’s campaign.

The Spain under-20 international recovered from a knee ligament injury earlier this year that kept him out of action for four months towards the end of the season.