Chelsea have confirmed that the club has reached an agreement with Aston Villa for their buzzing teenager Carney Chukwuemeka.

The 18-year-old is set to be the club’s next signing after Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly this summer. Chelsea have also signed teenagers Eddie Beach from Southampton and Omari Hutchinson from Arsenal.

Chelsea hadn’t been strongly linked with the Aston Villa midfielder this summer, as the teenager was attracting interest from Borussia Dortmund.

Chelsea have now confirmed a deal for Carney Chukwuemeka.

Chelsea’s deal for Chukwuemeka is believed to be worth an initial £15m, and other clauses could make the fee rise to above £20m.

A statement from Chelsea read: “Aston Villa and Chelsea can confirm that the clubs have reached an agreement for the permanent transfer of Carney Chukwuemeka.

“The 18-year-old has been given permission to travel to London to discuss both personal terms and undergo a medical.”

Chukwuemeka was named Aston Villa’s Academy Player of the Year for 2020-21.

The highly-rated midfielder made 11 Premier League appearances last season under Steven Gerrard, and has been named as a star in the making by Paul Merson.

Merson told Sky Sports about Chukwuemeka last August: “You look at the positives for Villa, the young kid, Chukwuemeka was very good.

“He has got a bright future. I don’t see a lot of the kid’s football. First-half, he was outstanding. He was gliding across the pitch.

“17-years-old, you are playing in the Premier League in the centre of midfield. I mean that’s a big ask.

“He will be an absolute star. He glides across the pitch. He is a nice size. He gets on the ball. He looks for it and makes runs without the ball. I think Aston Villa fans leaving the match will definitely be talking about him.”