Chelsea on the verge of signing €60m Brazilian wonderkid as Barcelona & PSG stall

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 12 Jan 2024 18:20 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea are reportedly close to activating the €60 million release clause in Estevao’s Palmeiras contract as they look to finalise a deal for the Brazilian wonderkid, according to reports in Spain.

Estevao, who is nicknamed ‘Messinho’, is regarded as one of the biggest talents in South America and he has attracted transfer interest from Europe’s biggest clubs despite the fact he has only made one senior appearance for Palmeiras.

Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain have both been heavily linked with a move for the 16-year-old, but Chelsea now look set to sign him as the Blues have travelled to Brazil with the intention of meeting his €60m release clause.

That is according to Spanish publication SPORT, who have reported that Chelsea have “taken their interest in Estevao very seriously.”

The Blues reportedly sent Laurence Stewart (the club’s technical director) to Sao Paulo in October in order to meet Palmeiras president Leila Periera and discuss the possibility of signing Estevao.

It was established that Palmerias would only let the teenager leave if his €60m release clause was met and Chelsea have reportedly now decided that he is worth that fee.

Barcelona and PSG also wanted Estevao

Although Chelsea are set to win the race for ‘Messinho’, he was wanted by both Barcelona and PSG too.

However, PSG’s Luis Campos informed Estevao’s representatives that the Ligue 1 giants would not be paying his asking price in December, according to SPORT.

The Parisians are set to land fellow Brazilian youngsters Gabriel Moscardo and Lucas Beraldo, instead.

As for Barcelona, they remain hopeful of signing Estevao, but they have not made any attempt to sign the 16-year-old yet, which has allowed Chelsea to swoop.

If Chelsea are able to land Estevao then he would become the fourth Brazilian youngster to join the club since Todd Boehly became owner.

Andrey Santos, Angelo Gabriel and Deivid Washington have all signed for the Blues over the past year, although all three have failed to make a mark in the first-team so far.