CHELSEA have sent an executive to Brazil to complete the signing of Estevao Willian, according to reports.
The Blues have been strongly linked with the 16-year-old and could sign him in a deal worth up to £65million.
Estevao, who has been nicknamed Messinho, has also drawn interest from Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.
According to Sport, though, Chelsea have now flown an executive to Sao Paulo to trigger Estevao’s release clause.
The club are ready to finalise the deal and pay the player’s £52million exit clause.
However, the deal could still rise to £65million, the report adds.
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Chelsea are in pole position to land Estevao after PSG withdrew from the race to sign the teenage winger.
He would be unable to join the West London club until July 2025, though, due to his age.
The youngster made his Palmeiras debut against Cruzeiro on the final day of the season in December as his side won the title.
Estevao also starred for Brazil at the Under-17 World Cup in Indonesia last year.
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He scored three goals and laid on three assists in five matches as Brazil reached the quarter-finals.
Chelsea have made a habit of signing Brazilian youngsters since Todd Boehly’s takeover in 2022.
Andrey Santos, Angelo Gabriel and Deivid Washington have all arrived at Stamford Bridge since.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk