Chelsea believe they are signing Brazilian talent Andrey Santos with the Blues confident they have seen off competition from Newcastle United.
That’s according to 90Min, who claim that Chelsea believe they are ‘well placed’ to secure the signature of Vasco da Gama teenager Santos.
It’s suggested that Chelsea hope a deal will be agreed and in place before the January transfer window even opens.
The fee is thought to be around £12million rising to £20million with add-ons, with Chelsea fending off the likes of Newcastle, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.
Chelsea are not only splashing the cash on first-team additions but also signings for the future.
Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei, Gabriel Slonina and Omari Hutchinson have all joined Chelsea in the Todd Boehly era.
Santos now looks set to follow in what will be a major blow for Newcastle.
Newcastle were confident of signing Andrey Santos
Many expected Santos to be signing for Newcastle after months of rumours surrounding a move to St James’ Park.
90Min reported in October that Newcastle were in talks with Vasco da Gama and were confident of signing Santos.
The Northern Echo even suggested late in November that Santos was Newcastle’s top target for the January transfer window, with a fee of up to £35million mentioned by Globo Esporte.
Chelsea now appear to be signing Santos for a fee well short of £35million and Newcastle will have to go back to the drawing board.
Santos, 18, has mostly played as a box-to-box or holding midfield player over in Brazil.
Vasco currently play in Brazil’s second tier and Santos was outstanding in 2022, bagging eight goals in 33 games from midfield.
Newcastle will have been confident because Santos is represented by Bertolucci Sports, the same agency as Bruno Guimaraes.
The pull of Chelsea seems to have worked though and the Blues look to be on the verge of pipping Newcastle to Santos.
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