In a move that came out of nowehere, Chelsea FC have announced today that they've reached an agreement to sign Croatian striker Stipe Perica. Perica previously played for NK Zadar, and the 18-year old stands about 6'3" tall.
Perica is a strong, athletic, raw player who has shown flashes of absolute brilliance for the Croatian U20 side. He'll no longer need to be granted a work permit after Croatia joined the EU, so he'll likely join up with the academy for the start of the 2013/14 season. We'll have a more in-depth look at him later on.
There is no word on what Perica cost the club, but he's a very high ceiling player in a position where Chelsea weren't particularly deep at the U18 and U21 levels. He'll certainly offer a nice change of pace to Islam Feruz, and could well see Feruz pushed into more of a supporting role this season.
All in all, I'm pretty excited by today's news, as you can never have too much young talent. Welcome to Chelsea, Stipe, and don't eat after midnight.