Chelsea have been handed a huge blow in their pursuit of Palmeiras wonderkid Endrick as Fabrizio Romano reports that a verbal agreement has been made between the youngster and Real Madrid. The 16-year-old has been highly sought after since breaking through into the first team in Brazil.
Regarded as one of the top prospects for the next generation, Endrick is now expected to make a move worth over £60million to Los Blancos, but not until he turns 18 years old - due to international law surrounding transfers. The Blues will be disappointed in missing out after pushing to land the youngster.
It comes amid a change in approach from the new ownership regime, who are looking to land the brightest young talent for the future. "It’s really exciting, the project here is really exciting," Graham Potter said on his arrival. "The ideas [they had] about taking the club forward. It felt really positive."
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While Endrick is a missed opportunity on the way to that project being fulfilled, he isn't the beginning or end of it succeeding at Chelsea. With Todd Boehly at the helm of the current sporting plan, attention will have to turn elsewhere in the pursuit of young talent.
In good news for the Blues, that is exactly how it is playing out as Fabrizio Romano also reports in his CaughtOffside column that there are "many others" in the shortlist of wonderkids they are following. At the moment though, there is nothing imminent on a specific player joining.
It comes as a timely boost to the club, given the fact they may have just lost a generational talent in Endrick ahead of his switch to Real Madrid.
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