OFFICIAL: Chelsea wonderkid signing HIJACKED by Premier League rivals

Tom Weber

Updated: 17 Jun 2024 17:05 BST
3 min read

Wolverhampton Wanderers have officially hijacked Chelsea's signing of Pedro Lima.

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The Brazil wonderkid looked destined to enter the BlueCo orbit, joining Chelsea down the line via Ligue 1 affiliate club Strasbourg. BlueCo had a deal with Lima all but agreed, but now there has been a major, unexpected twist.

Lima's club, Serie B side Sport Recife, have confirmed that Wolves have hijacked Chelsea's deal for the Brazil youth international. Gary O'Neil's side have reached a club-to-club agreement with their Brazilian counterparts.

Personal terms have been agreed on a five-year contract with the option for a further year. The 17-year-old is now set to complete his medical and officially join Wolves upon turning 18 on July 1.

Chelsea deal hijacked

FootballTransfers exclusively revealed Chelsea's pursuit of Lima in late May via The Transfers Podcast. The Blues had been working on the deal for some time and appeared to finally strike an agreement with Recife on June 12.

Fabrizio Romano even dropped his famous 'here we go' on the deal, with Lima slated to initially head to Ligue 1 affiliate side Strasbourg instead of Chelsea. The idea would have been for him to eventually move to Stamford Bridge, however.

In an official statement, Lima's club have now revealed: "Sport Club do Recife announces that it has signed a binding agreement to transfer the economic and federative rights of athlete Pedro Lima to Wolverhampton Wanderers, from England."

"The agreement is subject to customary conditions, including the athlete's approval of medical examinations conducted by the English club."

"President Yuri Romão and the football management committee will detail the operation in a statement when all acts related to the business have been completed."