Lucas Piazon signs two-year Chelsea contract extension before rejoining Fulham on loan

Lucas Piazon has become the latest Chelsea player to sign fresh terms before heading back out on loan. The Brazilian midfielder, whose previous deal was set to expire next summer, agreed a new two-year extension on Friday (14 July) that keeps him under contract until 2020.

Piazon will now return to Championship side Fulham, for whom he made 33 appearances across all competitions during a successful loan stint in 2016-17. He scored six goals and provided four assists in total as Slavisa Jokanovic's side saw their Premier League promotion bid ended by Reading in the play-off semi-finals.

"I believe it is a very good move for me," the 23-year-old said of his move back to Craven Cottage. "And I am very happy with the decision. There is a certain feeling of unfinished business.

"It felt like I must come back and help the team to reach what we were chasing last year, so it will be a very exciting season.

"This is the first time I will spend two seasons with a club. I am excited to see the boys and get back into training."

Piazon has made just three senior appearances for Chelsea since arriving from Sao Paulo as an 18-year-old, all of which came back in 2012. Since then, he has been dispatched all over Europe for loan stints at Malaga, Vitesse Arnhem, Eintracht Frankfurt, Reading and Fulham. Last year he expressed frustration with such a policy and expressed a desire to stay at one club for more than a single season, while admitting that he had barely spoken to Antonio Conte.

Academy defender Jake Clarke-Salter has also signed a new four-year deal at Stamford Bridge, although supporters are still waiting for official clarity regarding Tiemoue Bakayoko's protracted move from AS Monaco.

The France international was expected to undergo a medical in London yesterday after a fee of around £40m ($52.3m) was agreed between the two clubs following frustrating delays that partially related to concerns over a lingering knee injury. However, further cryptic tweets from the social media-happy midfielder gave cause for concern that he might be set to stay with Monaco after all.

Goal report that Bakayoko did undergo a medical at Cobham and that the deal was further delayed by last-minute financial demands made by the Ligue 1 champions and multiple mandates with intermediaries on behalf of the player. The same publication claim he is expected to put pen to paper on a five-year deal on Saturday, when he could be officially unveiled as a Chelsea player.