FOUR-YEAR DEAL FOR BRUMA
Posted on: Wed 01 Sep 2010

Jeffrey Bruma has signed a new contract that ensures his future is at Chelsea until at least 2014.

The 18-year-old, who has been with the club since 2007, became a professional last summer and has since made his Chelsea first team and Dutch full national team debuts. He was also a major player in the youth team's FA Youth Cup triumph last season.

He has made four substitute appearances for the first team, including one in the Community Shield last month but has since undergone surgery on a hernia.

Speaking to the Official Chelsea Website today having put his signature to the new deal, Bruma was pleased his progress has been recognised.

'I am very happy to stay here,' he said. 'I have been working to improve all the time I have been here and a next step is getting your next contract, and now it is time to improve again.

'I often speak to [assistant first team coach] Paul Clement because when I came over here as a 15-year-old and was in the youth team, he was the youth team manager. We sit down and lay out a sheet of targets. We did this when we were away in the Champions League in Milan last season.

'I have made my international debut already and that was the aim for two or three years' time. It has come so early and when you reach your targets you obviously have to set new ones, so my new targets are to play as much as I can at Chelsea in the first team and get in the Dutch full squad again as soon as I am fit.'

Bruma's first international cap came in a friendly against Ukraine, a game for which The Netherlands rested all their World Cup players. It placed him in direct opposition to Andriy Shevchenko.

His injury means it is unknown whether he would have retained his place in the squad for this week's Euro 2012 qualifiers but he is happy with the way his first taste of the big international scene went.

'I started in the centre of the defence and it was quite a young team but it was a good game. We were 1-0 up until eight minutes to go. Ukraine scored from a free-kick but overall I think we were the better side.

'There were a lot of rumours last season that I might go to the World Cup. I never believed it but I saw it as a complement because it is a sign that you are doing well and people think about you. It was too early as well. They did very well in the World Cup and then one month after the final, I am in the squad and it was worth the wait.'

Bruma is currently working hard on rehabilitation with physio Thierry Laurent and massage therapist Stuart Sullivan, who accompanied the player for his operation with unusual consequences. Read 'Bridge Blog' in the October edition of Chelsea magazine, out tomorrow, for the story.

He is confident he will be fit before for the Carling Cup match against Newcastle on 22 September which looks a good chance for first team action given his involvement in the competition last season.

'The recovery is going pretty well and I have no pain where I had it before. Now it is more muscle stiffness all over the body because your body has to get used to everything again. I don't expect to be out much longer because it is a new kind of surgery. I had one hernia operation in June on the left side and now I have had the right done so I can put it behind me and move on.

'As soon as I am back with the group training I have to show that I am completely fit and show the manager I can do it again.'

Franco Di Santo has made a permanent move to Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee. He has signed a three-year contract.

The 21-year-old striker joined Chelsea in January 2008 after signing from Chilean side Audux Italiano La Florida.

He began life well in the reserves, netting seven goals in eight games, and helped turn an 11-game winless streak into six games undefeated.

One of the defining moments of that reserve season was two penalties and an excellent volley that secured a hat-trick against Tottenham. He also scored an important equaliser against Arsenal.

Di Santo then travelled with the first team on the pre-season tour to China two years ago. He went on to make his first-team debut the season that followed during a 1-1 draw with Tottenham and made eight appearances in the Premier League, as well as featuring in the FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League, but he didn't find the net.

He also figured in last summer's tour of America under Carlo Ancelotti and scored against Mexican side Club America.

The young Argentinean then went out on loan to Blackburn Rovers for a season. There he made 24 appearances, with 16 starts, and continuing his strikes in local derbies, scored his one Rovers goal against Burnley, helping his side to a 3-2 victory.

He returned to Chelsea to play a part in this summer's pre-season but moves on without playing another competitive game. In total he made 16 appearances as a substitute for our first team without scoring.

Chelsea Football Club would like to thank Franco for the part he played at the club and wishes him well with his new challenge.

Carlo Ancelotti revealed Frank Lampard will have a hernia operation this week following our 2-0 win over Stoke City.

The Italian explained the medical department tried to manage the problem during the week but after the player felt pain during today's game, and was substituted in the second-half, he will now have surgery.

The procedure is the same as Didier Drogba's recent hernia surgery, which saw the Ivorian striker back in training after only seven days. It does mean that Lampard will not go on international duty with England.

'He [Lampard] has a problem on his groin,' explained Ancelotti. 'He had the surgery ten years ago and this week was not very good. He also didn't feel well in the game.

'So the only solution is to have surgery this week, maybe he will do this Tuesday or Wednesday. It means he is not able to play for the national team.

'He'll be ready in one week or two weeks. We have experience because it is the same surgery as Drogba and Drogba took one week before he was able to train.

'It is not a big problem. It is very easy surgery but he needs it because he started to feel pain.'

Michael Mancienne has today rejoined Wolverhampton Wanderers on a season-long loan.

The 22-year-old defender spent 2009/10 with the Molineux club, making 33 appearances as Mick McCarthy's side achieved Barclays Premier League safety, finishing 15th.

The England Under 21 man also played 10 times for Wolves during 2008/09, when his form in the Championship earned him a call-up to the full England squad.

Later that season Mancienne, who can also play in holding midfield, made his Chelsea debut and went on to make six appearances in our colours under Guus Hiddink.

Prior to Wolves, he also played 61 times on loan at QPR between 2006 and 2008.