Chelsea may not be signing Neymar this summer, but they could be about to land a youngster who has drawn comparisons to the 30-year-old.
In this summer’s transfer window, manager Thomas Tuchel has made an “urgent appeal” for quality signings to consider joining his project in west London for the foreseeable future. Having already signed Kalidou Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling, the Blues are certainly building something exciting.
“There is no update, no update,” the German last said on the transfer front after the Arsenal pre-season defeat. “The analysing of the season does not change because of this game. Unfortunately, it proved my point and the last week proves my point. I would prefer to not be right and I did everything to prove myself wrong, but at the moment I feel I was right when I look at the last season and at the parts of the game where we struggled and how we struggled.
“We got sanctioned and players left us, we know that some players are trying to leave us, and this is where it is. We had an urgent appeal for quality players and a huge amount of quality players. We’ve got two quality players – that is no doubt – but we are not competitive like this and unfortunately, we could see it today.”
While the lack of signings has been the story for the first team, both the women’s and academy teams have strengthened and are set to get more new faces in the near future. Zak Sturge has already agreed a deal to become part of the Cobham fabric whilst Tyler Dibling is expected to follow suit soon. Arsenal youngster Omari Hutchinson also completed his switch to Chelsea.
One player who could potentially be poached has had a lot of hype surrounding his development so far. The ‘next Neymar’ in the form of 16-year-old sensation Endrick is a reported transfer target for Chelsea.
The Palmeiras wonderkid, who has just recently penned his first pro-senior deal with the side Chelsea managed to defeat in the FIFA Club World Cup final last season, is apparently on the radar of every big European club. The Sun state Chelsea have made their early move to sign a player who has netted an incredible 170 goals in only 172 appearances for the Palmeiras youth team.
No wonder he has been touted around as the next Neymar. The player himself views Cristiano Ronaldo as his icon and having the likes of Gary Lineker labelling him as a ‘special talent’ has only increased the hype.
“How do I cope with the hype? I try to remember that I’m very young,” he explained in a previous interview as per The Daily Mail. “I try to remember I’m still a child and that it’s only a game. I don’t want to take it overly seriously. Yes, I want to be serious about my career but during the game I want to have as much fun as possible.”
Endrick may not be the immediate solution Tuchel needs right now but the fact the Blues have already held initial agent talks signal their eagerness to sign the next coming of Neymar, with the Paris Saint-Germain star willing to stay and fight for his future under new manager Christophe Galtier.
football.london has been told by a Brazilian football source that Endrick is certainly one to keep an eye over the 2022/23 campaign. Real Madrid have also been linked and would likely be a considerable opponent in a race to sign the youngster, especially considering their relationship with scouting from Brazil over the years. Both Vinicius Junior and iconic left-back Marcelo were signed directly from the Brazilian Serie A.
