Chelsea ‘pushing hard’ for £51m wonderkid; now ‘working on deal’ after receiving Barcelona boost
Chelsea hold an advantage over Barcelona in the race to sign Palmeiras wonderkid Estevao Willian, according to Fabrizio Romano.
It was reported on Friday evening that Chelsea had representatives in Brazil to hold talks with Palmeias president Leila Pereira over the signing of ‘Messinho’.
The 16-year-old has a €60million (£51.5million) release clause in his contract and that is what Pereira wants to receive.
There is also interest from La Liga champions Barcelona and French giants Paris Saint-Germain.
Chelsea are believed to be open to negotiating a different package for the young winger but if they want to avoid paying the release clause in one go, they will probably have to pay around €75m (£64.5m), it has been claimed.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona is Estevao’s preference, but financial fair play rules could benefit Chelsea in the race to land him.
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Romano says the Blues are ‘pushing hard’ to sign the 16-year-old, but it is not clear if they are planning to trigger the release clause.
“I also told you many times about Chelsea’s interest in Estevao Willian, currently playing for Palmeiras and with a €60m release clause,” Romano wrote for CaughtOffside.
“He’s a top talent, born in 2007, and on the list of many clubs, but let me explain the situation. Barcelona have been working on a deal for a long time, they have an excellent relationship and the player would love to join Barcelona.
“At the moment, similar to the [Manchester City target Claudio] Echeverri story, because of Financial Fair Play, it’s not easy for Barcelona to go there and close the deal for ‘Messinho’ – but the interest is there and the player is attracted by the move.
“Chelsea are pushing hard and working on a deal but at the moment it’s not guaranteed that they will pay the release clause, so talks are still ongoing to discuss the terms of the story.
“It’s also important to mention that other clubs, from England and from France – with Paris Saint-Germain always attentive to the Brazilian market – could also join the race.”
Mauricio Pochettino is expected to be active in the winter transfer window after recording a net spend of €515.3m last summer, which was unsurprisingly the highest out of all 20 Premier League teams.
A new striker is a top priority for the Chelsea boss. Napoli’s Victor Osimhen is reportedly his top target but a January move seems unlikely.
The Nigerian recently penned a new contract in Naples and now has a reported £112m release clause.