Chelsea beat Barcelona to €15m Brazilian wonderkid transfer

Suraj Radia

• 28 Jun 2023 14:53 BST
• 2 min read

Chelsea are in advanced talks to sign Brazilian wonderkid Angelo Gabriel after Barcelona opted against activating their option to sign the Santos forward.

The 18-year-old has already made more than 120 appearances for Santos and was the second-youngest player to ever feature for the Brazilian outfit when he made his debut aged 15, beating Pele’s record by 11 days.

Chelsea are believed to have made an offer of around €15 million for Angelo and a deal is close to being sealed according to reports in Brazil.

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Barcelona have an agreement with Santos that allows them first refusal on the player but Spanish outlet SPORT claims the Catalans chose not to match the offer for Angelo due to their financial issues.

Barca had considered a move for Angelo in January when he was believed to be close to signing for Nottingham Forest in January but Chelsea are now set to continue their recent trend of signing South American youngsters.

There is also a belief Angelo could be loaned out to a satellite club, such as French side Strasbourg, who Chelsea’s owners recently invested in, however details on his next steps will likely be decided after any deal is concluded.

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Angelo is known as a pacy, left-footed dribbler and has been an important part of Santos’ team since making his debut in 2020.

Despite largely playing as a forward, Angelo has scored just five times in all competitions for Santos, while he has played three times for Brazil’s under-20 team.

Chelsea have signed the likes of Andrey Santos and Ecuadorian teenager Kendry Paez in recent months as they look to continue their rebuild by targeting youngsters from all around the world.

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Barcelona are in the market for a Brazilian wonderkid but they have prioritised the signing of Vitor Roque from Flamengo, with a €45m deal in place for the 18-year-old, although the club are struggling to finance it and register the player with La Liga.