Premier League club side Chelsea started Thursday with optimism after the club confirmed the signing of defender Benoit Badiashile from Monaco in a deal worth around £35m.

The 21-year-old signed a 7-and-1/2-year contract to move to Stamford Bridge. Benoit Badiashile spent five years in the Ligue 1 and has over 130 appearances for Monaco while also debuting for the French national team last year.

The player has been capped twice with the French national team and played in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League, but he is already looking forward to Chelsea.

“I’m very happy to be here at Chelsea. I can’t wait to see the fans and start playing in the best league in the world,” said Badiashile.

Meanwhile, the team went on to face Manchester City in a Premier League game on Thursday evening. However, it was also an eventful game that saw Chelsea having to make two substitutions early in the first half due to injuries.

Raheem Sterling was substituted after five minutes after he was injured and was replaced by former Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 17 minutes later it was Carney Chukwuemeka came in for Christian Pulisic.

However, Manchester City did not take advantage of the dysfunction in Chelsea’s setup until the second half when Riyad Mahrez scored from close range to hand Manchester City all those three points.

The loss is a big blow for Chelsea as they have won just one of their last five games and are 10 points away from the top four and 10 points from the drop zone while sitting in the tenth position.

For Manchester City, the win brings them five points within touching distance of League leaders Arsenal. It also represents a return to winning ways after the weekend’s 1-1 draw against Everton.

Manchester City and Chelsea will play each other again on the weekend on Sunday in a cup tie.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu