Chelsea look to be one step closer to signing superb Brazilian talent Estevao Willian from Palmeiras after the latest update from Fabrizio Romano.
The insider today reported that Chelsea have made an improved offer for the attacker, who is reported to have a release clause of something like €55m. The discussions will be over how much Chelsea are willing to pay up front as opposed to as bonuses or instalments.
It seems the deal with Willian is done. He’s been persuaded a move to Stamford Bridge is a smart one, and the focus is now on getting Palmeiras to sign off on it.
The good news in terms of the competition is that it seems only Bayern Munich are in the race, and according to Romano they have “not moved” yet, either in proposing things to the player or his club. They’re likely too busy with their chaotic manager situation, and Chelsea are now “in control” of negotiations.
Romano ends with the claims that negotiations will “advance soon.” It sounds like a deal could be done in a few weeks at most.
Another step closer to the grand prize
The reason Chelsea wanted to make these bids so early was to get ahead of the competition for a player who is going to be increasingly hot property, and it seems to be working for them.
Other teams are much further behind in their scouting and their attempts to persuade both Willian and Palmeiras, with only Bayern anywhere close.
But as Romano reports, we’re leading this race, and if a deal can be done with the attacker’s club in the next few days or weeks, we might just pull off their heist.
Whether it’s a good use of our resources is a debate for another time – right now all eyes are on places like Romano’s Twitter account as we await news on whether Chelsea have got the deal over the line before we work out what the plan is.