As reports emerged on Wednesday suggesting that Chelsea were making a move for Boca Juniors defender Aaron Anselmino, it was tempting to wonder if there is a single South American whizzkid the Premier League giants have not tried to sign.
Andrey Santos, Angelo Gabriel, Deivid Washington, Kendry Paez and co all joined for pretty substantial fees in the Clearlake era. And, after missing out on Endrick to Real Madrid, Chelsea have agreed a deal worth up to £60 million for the Bernabeu-bound Brazilian’s former Palmeiras team-mate Estevao Willian.
Only time will tell, however, if missing out on Endrick – long since seen as the best Brazilian talent of his generation – will be a disappointment that haunts The Blues for years to come.
Endrick obviously felt that the chance to follow in the footsteps of Ronaldo, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo at the Champions League winners was an opportunity he could not turn down.
Another Samba starlet by the name of Pedro Lima, meanwhile, opted against a move to Chelsea too. Albeit for rather different reasons.
Wolves beat Chelsea to Sport Recife’s Pedro Lima
HITC reported last week that Chelsea had agreed personal terms with teenage right-back Lima. But, in a surprise twist of fate, the Sport Recife defender suddenly found himself preparing for a move to Wolverhampton rather than Stamford Bridge.
Wolves have snatched Pedro Lima from under Chelsea’s nose, agreeing an £8.5 million deal and set to sign the rising star on a five-year deal.
And, while Gary O’Neil’s side may have made their move relatively late in the day, Lima’s agent is keen to point out that Wolves’ interest is not a new thing. The Black County outfit have been watching Lima closely since November of last year. They also opened talks with the full-back’s camp in early May.
“Wolves have been following Pedro Lima since the U17 World Cup,” agent Pedro Guimaraes tells Globo Esporte. “They also went to watch a live match against Coritiba (on May 3rd) and met us in Recife a day or two later.”
Guimaraes explains that a proposed move to Chelsea broke down because the two-time Champions League winners wanted to send Pedro Lima on loan to their French-based sister club Strasbourg.
That was not something that appealed to Lima’s camp, Santos and Gabriel struggling to win over an irate Strasbourg fanbase last term as those Chelsea connections became a real bone of contention in Alsace.
“The purchase, in this case, would not be for Pedro Lima to go directly to Chelsea, but rather to Strasburg,” Guimaraes adds. “The (arrangement of the deal) did not please us.”
Five-year deal ready at Molineux
Does this mean Pedro Lima has been offered the chance to fight immediately for a first-team place at Wolves, following his 18th birthday on June 1st? Maybe, Wolves betting on youth again while also bringing in 20-year-old Rodrigo Gomes in a £12.7 million deal from Braga.
The uncertainty surrounding Nelson Semedo’s future, meanwhile, could soon open up a right-back spot for Lima to challenge for.
“We already had the offer from Wolves. However, as we reached a turning point in the terms that Sport demanded from Chelsea, we started talking to Wolverhampton,” Guilherme Falcao, a member of the Management Committee at Sport Recife, tells Itatiaia.
“It was a much simpler conversation, because they accepted the conditions we had established, both in terms of price and percentages of future sales.
“I won’t give any more details. But it was not a commercial condition that prevented the deal with Chelsea. There were some clauses within the contract that we should not admit.”
Lima only made his first-team debut in January. But he is already a regular in the XI, impressing his more senior team-mates along the way.
“Pedro Lima is a spectacular boy,” Sport Recife defender Luciano Castan says, via Ne45. “From the first moment he was with us at the beginning of the season, he already showed the qualities and skills he has in the game.
“We as a group always try to help, not just him, but all the players too.
“He is a young boy with a lot of potential. We believe that he will still improve a lot. So, we are happy. We always try to convey tranquility and confidence. But he’s a straight-A kid. He has a focused mind, he knows what he wants, what he needs to grow further in his career.
“We are also happy to have this contact with him at the beginning of his career, we know that he will soar throughout his career.”
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