COMMENT: Congratulations, Chelsea fans. In the past week, you've landed two of the world's most sought after young players - a Jamaican and a Brazilian.
Hang on. What? Where? If this is a surprise, then you should be keeping a closer eye on what is happening at Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz.
Earlier claims of Chelsea buying into the Belgian outfit were wide of the mark, but through their ties with the club's new owner, the Blues have managed to (again) skirt the UK's work permit laws and land two of the most exciting teenagers in the game.
More on that later.
Despite nothing on paper, Chelseawill play a part in the revival of RMP, which were facing bankruptcy towards the end of last season. Former majority shareholders Lille pulled out the project in March, leaving the Belgians on the brink of collapse. However, in stepped super agent Pini Zahavi, committing €8.5 million over the next three seasons to not only cover costs, but increase the playing budget by 50 per cent.
"We are now able to sign players that we would never previously have been able to attract," says chairman Edward Van Daele, who survived the boardroom shake-up Zahavi performed earlier this month.
"In the future, RMP will finally aim for more than treading water."
As Van Daele explained, Zahavi is happy with a hands-off role.
"He does not wish to put himself forward in the daily operational management of the club. But of course, he will have a say in the management and decision making."
Zahavi has installed ex-Nantes president Jean-Luc Gripond as chief financial officer, while former agent Teny Yerima is now RMP's football director.
Yerima has a colourful past, particularly in English football, but Zahavi is happy for the Cameroonian to run the football side of things. On his first day, Yerima arrived with "a list of nine" transfer targets he wanted the club's board to move for.
The Chelsea link, for now, is informal, but also rock solid thanks to Zahavi's relationship with Blues owner Roman Abramovich. It was the Israeli who convinced Abramovich to buy Chelsea 12 years ago.
Since that first day with Yerima in charge, a raft of new signings have arrived from across Europe. Among those is Jamaican midfielder Leon Bailey, who was snapped up from AC Trencin.
Bailey, an U17 international, was also a target for Belgian rivals Standard Liege and Genk, which had been in contact with his family for over two years. But Mouscron were able to win the race for his signature thanks to the influence of Chelsea.
Belgian sources insist Bailey would not be a Mouscron player today without the relationship.
Just like their partnership with the Eredivisie's Vitesse Arnhem, which was established thanks to Abramovich's friendship with their former owner Merab Jordania, Chelsea are leaning on the Russian's ties with Zahavi to stay competitive in the youth transfer market.
As the FA join forces with the British government to further tighten work permit laws, such alliances become imperative for clubs like Chelsea. To compete with European rivals for the game's best young players, Premier League clubs need to be creative.
The latest signing for RMP was made yesterday, with Brazilian superkid Mosquito joining from Vasco da Gama.
A star for Brazil at the U17 World Cup, Mosquito has had Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG... and Chelsea all chasing his signature for the past 12 months.
Like with Bailey, there's no official word from RMP that Mosquito has arrived with the view to eventually joining Chelsea. But it's a stretch to suggest the Belgian minnows have beaten Europe's heavyweights to land the winger.
Tribalfootball.com can also reveal Chelsea's interest in Belgian club football doesn't begin and end with RMP. Before Zahavi's takeover, Chelsea struck a 'non-exclusive' agreement with White Star Bruxelles. The deal was agreed in goodwill with their new owner, John Bico, who was Eden Hazard's former agent.
Another welcome addition to a steadily expanding Chelsea network borne out of the frustration with the UK's work permit system.
More:
Click here for John Stones: How Everton can shutdown Chelsea's La Liga transfer tactics
Click here for Victorien Angban: The best Chelsea superkid you've never heard of
