Chelsea have announced that Gael Kakuta has signed a new four-and-a-half year deal at the club. Kakuta was due to leave Stamford Bridge when his contract ran out at the end of the season and the Frenchman had been linked with a move away but he has now committed himself to the club until 2015.
Chelsea were given a two-year transfer ban in September 2009 after being found guilty of inducing Kakuta to break his contract with Lens, but that ban was lifted and the club were cleared of any wrongdoing after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled the forward's deal with the French club was not valid.
"Since I signed for Chelsea when I was 16 all I was thinking about was to get to the first team," the 19 year old told Chelsea's official website.
"Now I have been playing a few times with the first team and I have signed for four-and- a-half more years, I have to make a way for myself into the starting XI and make my dream come true.
"The manager said to me it is the right time to play and I think for me it is as well. It's my job to do my best and try to play more often and show the coach that I am good enough to play in the team."
Kakuta has featured in five of Chelsea's Champions League games so far and is keen to help the Blues' attempts to achieve success both in Europe and domestically, where they have dropped to fourth after a poor run of results.
Kakuta continued: "It is a dream when you are young to play in the Champions League and I hope I will play more games.
"It is always good to play with players with more experience, you learn quicker and to improve quicker is good for our development."
