Chelsea reach verbal agreement for £17.5m signing of Brazilian sensation

Chelsea are on the verge of securing their second signing of the January transfer window by reaching a full verbal agreement for Brazilian wonderkid Andrey Santos.

The Blues already announced they had completed the signing of Molde forward David Datro Fofana, who has signed for a fee around £10 million.

Now Chelsea have secured another top teenage talent in Santos, who will join the club in January.

Graham Potter will be hoping these signings can give his team a boost ahead of the return of club football following the World Cup.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea have a full verbal agreement in place to sign Santos, with a fee of around €20m being agreed, with personal terms having also been agreed.

The 18-year-old central midfielder has been at Vasco da Gama since the age of seven, and enjoyed a successful first full season in senior football, as they finished fourth in Serie B to earn promotion.

Given it was Santos' first season in senior football, his return of eight goals from 33 appearances is certainly impressive.

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He also started every single one of those 33 appearances and played a mix of both defensive and central midfield.

Santos was scouted by top clubs such as Manchester City and Barcelona this year, and featured at every junior level for Brazil.

Having spooled through the various YouTube compilations of Santos, its obvious Santos has great feet and loves to take the ball and beat a man.

There's also plenty of examples of that Brazilian flair, as he beats plenty of players during the course of the video, as well as some tidy finishes having found himself in great positions.

Plus, there's even a headed goal thrown in there for good measure.

Santos and Fofana will join a strong contingent of young talent at the club that are being earmarked for a big future at the club.

Already at the club are the likes of Omari Hutchinson Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei and Gabriel Slonina, all of whom have been signed since Todd Boehly took ownership of the club in May.

Potter will be hoping the influx of talent and signings can help them turn around their fortunes, given the London side sit eighth in the PL and had lost four of their last five games prior to the World Cup.

Chelsea will resume action against Bournemouth on the December 27th in the league.