Chelsea are poised to sign Manchester City target Estevao Willian from Palmeiras, according to TEAMtalk.
The website claims that Pep Guardiola’s side, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain had all been keeping tabs on the young Brazilian but Chelsea were the team that made the most decisive move.
It is believed that Estevao’s move to Stamford Bridge is “all but done”, with the Blues currently in “advanced talks” to finalise the transfer.
They will reportedly pay £26m upfront but add-ons will likely take the final fee to above the £50m mark.
City have never paid more than £27m for a teenager
One of the likely factors behind the Cityzens deciding against challenging Chelsea for Estevao’s signature is the transfer fee that was required.
While the Manchester club have invested a lot of money in young players over the years, the highest amount they have spent on a teenager was the £27m they paid Palmeiras for Gabriel Jesus all the way back in 2017.
Even though the Brazilian did turn out to be a good investment for the team, you are still taking a huge risk when you shell out so much money on a relatively unproven talent.
The club have looked to Argentina rather than Brazil to sign youngsters
City have made some shrewd acquisitions from South America in recent seasons but you could argue that the best purchase was Julian Alvarez from River Plate. The 22-year-old cost an initial £14.1m which is a minuscule amount in today’s transfer market.
The club will be hoping to replicate that success with Claudio Echeverri. The midfielder has also been signed from River Plate for a slightly lower figure than Alvarez at £12.5m. He is currently on loan back in Argentina but he will return to the Etihad at the beginning of next year.
