Malmö FF’s Hugo Larsson has revealed he turned down an opportunity to join Chelsea in the past.
Expressen label the 17-year-old as ‘one of Sweden’s most promising talents’ who has made progress in the last year or so.
After captaining Malmö U17 side, he was promoted their U19 side last summer. This allowed the midfielder to feature in the UEFA Youth Cup this season, where he made six appearances.
Prior to all this, the Blues came looking for the Sweden U18 international and invited him to undergo a trial with them at the club. According to Expressen, the Champions League winners ‘embarked on the hunt’ for the teenager’s signature.
Even though the west London club showed interest and Chelsea are Larsson’s ‘favourite club’, a deal never took shape.
“It’s clear that it was a great experience to go and play with Chelsea. I trained with the team and also got to go to a tournament in Belgium. I also scored a goal there,” Larsson said, as quoted by Expressen.
“It [Chelsea move] was a little too early. For me, it was better to continue my development at home, at Malmö. I want to break through at MFF [Malmö] first before I go abroad.”
Larsson’s decision to snub Chelsea in order to continue his development in Sweden paid off as he made his first team debut for Malmö, when he came off the bench in his side’s 1-1 draw against IF Elfsborg on Monday.
