COLCHESTER United have signed 20-year-old Billy Clifford on loan from Chelsea.
U’s boss Joe Dunne watched Clifford in action for Chelsea Under-21s on Thursday night, and has since signed the midfielder on loan for a month.
He is expected to go straight into tomorrow’s squad, to face fellow strugglers Scunthorpe United, especially as the U’s will be without the midfield duo of Anthony Wordsworth (first of a two-match suspension) and Kem Izzet (ankle injury).
“Billy has been in Chelsea’s first-team squad on occasions already and I have been very impressed with what I’ve seen of him,” enthused Dunne.
Clifford will wear the No. 41 shirt for the U’s.
He has been at Stamford Bridge since the age of seven, and although he spent most of the first year of his scholarship as a right-back, he is best equipped as a midfielder.
Clifford signed his first professional contract in the summer of 2010, having been an integral part of Chelsea’s FA Youth Cup success. He was a mainstay of the reserves last season.
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