Okay, so I've been covering football transfers for about eight years now, and I thought I'd seen everything. Wrong.

Chelsea are apparently ready to drop £700,000 on Camden Schaper. The kid is thirteen. THIRTEEN. I had to double-check my notes because that number felt like a typo, but nope – we're talking about a seventh-grader here who's about to become richer than most of us will ever be.

City's Got His Brother, But Chelsea's Got the Cash

Here's where it gets messy. Manchester City thought they had this one locked up because they already signed Camden's younger brother Astin last year. Smart move, right? Keep the family together, create some loyalty... except Chelsea just waltzed in with a briefcase full of money like they're collecting Pokemon cards.

The Schaper family moved from South Africa to England about twelve months ago. Can you imagine that conversation at the dinner table? "Hey kids, pack your bags – we're moving to Manchester so you can become millionaire footballers before you hit puberty."

Summer Spending Spree (Because Why Not?)

This Camden situation is just the latest chapter in Chelsea's absolutely bonkers summer. They've already thrown £30 million at Ipswich for Liam Delap, beating out Manchester United, Newcastle, and Everton in the process. Then they went and grabbed Dario Essugo and Mamadou Sarr from Sporting Lisbon and Strasbourg.

Meanwhile, City decided to play their own version of transfer bingo, spending over £116 million on four players in about six weeks. Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan, Rayan Ait Nouri from Wolves, Rayan Cherki from Lyon, and – this is rich – Marcus Bettineli from Chelsea. So basically, they're trading players while fighting over teenagers.

What Happens Next?

Both clubs are supposed to be focusing on the Club World Cup right now, but let's be honest – they're probably still refreshing their phones waiting for updates on this Camden deal. The transfer window reopens Monday, and something tells me this £700k is just teh beginning of another wild ride.

I keep thinking about this kid though. He's probably worried about algebra homework while two of England's biggest clubs are having a bidding war over his signature. What a time to be alive.

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Statistics

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External Links

soccercoachweekly.net

• Soccer Coach Weekly

fai.ie

• Football Association of Ireland

uefa.com

• UEFA Playmaker

nscaa.com

• United Soccer Coaches Education

ffacoach.com

• FFA Coach

How To

How To Be A Successful Midfielder in Soccer

A midfielder must have vision and versatility to succeed. It is important to improve your ball handling abilities, so work consistently on your dribbling skills and ball protection. By playing in small spaces, you can develop your spatial awareness. You must regularly work at both short and long range distribution. Maintain a high-level of performance throughout the entire game by improving your conditioning. Analyze the playmaking style of midfielders who are leading players to understand how they control the pace of the game.