Chelsea confident of securing deal for Brazilian

Chelsea are confident that they have won the race for Brazilian youngster Andrey Santos, 90min understands.

The 18-year-old midfielder was a long-term target for Newcastle United, who were close to securing a deal with his club Vasco da Gama after beating off competition from the likes of Paris Saint Germain.

However, as 90min confirmed, Chelsea and Barcelona both made moves to try and win the race for Santos, and the Stamford Bridge giants believe they are now well placed to seal a deal.

Sources close to Chelsea have indicated to 90min that they hope an agreement will be tied up before the January window opens, at which point they will announce a deal - believed to be worth around £12m but possibly rising to around £20m including add-ons.

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The move would be the latest high-profile teenage acquisition for Chelsea since the Todd Boehly-led consortium took charge of the club last summer, following on from the likes of Carney Chukwuemeka, Omari Hutchinson, Gabriel Slonina and Cesare Casadei.

Andrey Santos is a player with a growing reputation, and recently earned a glowing endorsement from Vasco da Gama legend Juninho Pernambucano.

“Physically, he is a monster," Juninho said of Santos. "Without the ball, his participation in the game is total. I wanted to see his GPS, because he doesn't stop! And technically, he's way above the others.

"He's not going to be better than me, he's going to be much better than me. He is a much more complete player. At 18, I didn't play half as much as he does, I'm not ashamed to say that."