Chelsea 'capture Israeli starlet'

Chelsea have reportedly tied up a deal for 16-year-old Israeli sensation Ben Sahar.

Whilst the Premiership champions continue to draw the world's biggest stars to Stamford Bridge, with Andrei Shevchenko on the brink of joining Michael Ballack in London, The Blues are actively pursuing their counter policy of adding gifted young players from all over the globe.

Their youth recruitment drive, led by former Tottenham sporting director Frank Arnesen, appears to have bore fruit again with the news that Hapoel Tel Aviv striker Sahar will be moving to the Premiership champions in a £320,000 deal.

Sahar is known as one of Israel's brightest talents, and first caught Chelsea's eye in an Under 16 fixture against Ireland in 2004.

Whilst he has previously spent a period on trial at Stamford Bridge, he will now reportedly join Jose Mourinho's side on a permanent deal - snubbing interest from Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa.

Reacting to the news of his big break, Sahar expressed a desire to make his move to Chelsea a success by impressing the Portuguese boss.

"I feel I can succeed at Chelsea," Sahar told Haaretz.

"There will be tough moments but I have a strong character and I don't intend to give up.

"At the end of the day, I will come out stronger and the move to Chelsea will help take my career forward.

"I have reached a point in my career that I have dreamed about and I don't intend to take a step back.

"I'm already thinking about the moment when Jose Mourinho comes to watch the youth team in training and he calls me over and tells me he is calling me up to the senior team because he liked what he saw."

Sahar's former mentor at Hapoel, youth team coach Eyal Hayit, has given Blues fans a hint of what to expect should the starlet succeed at Stamford Bridge - hailing his goalscoring potential and technical ability.

"He is suitable for Europe because he knows how to achieve the goals he sets himself and he is an exceptionally talented player," said Hayit.

"He is fast and has fantastic physical ability; he scores 30-40 goals a season and his ball skills are something you don't see here every day."

The deal represents a further change to Chelsea's forward options after the signing of Salomon Kalou on Tuesday, and Didier Drogba, Hernan Crespo and Carlton Cole could still all find themselves departing during the summer.