With the January transfer window now just 6 weeks away, rumours are starting to get much more intense.
Chelsea are not expected to do a huge amount of business – especially not in terms of purchases – but their commitment to signing the best young talent worldwide means they’re always going to be in the race for a few notable names.
According to an exclusive from CaughtOffside today, that includes Brazilian wonderkid William Gomes.
Chelsea and Arsenal have been “closely monitoring” the 18 year old Sao Paolo player, looking to make a move at some point in the next 18 months.
“Arsenal and Chelsea are showing the strongest interest for the moment, with scouts from both London clubs keeping tabs on Gomes and giving positive feedback on what they’ve seen so far,” the report reads.
Gomes needs minutes to convince European clubs to pay up
Chelsea are of course heavily stocked up with young talent, and one of the most promising of all, Estevao Willian, hasn’t even arrived at the club yet. But the sporting directors have already shown a streak of opportunism which means they’ll happily pounce on a top player for a good price no matter how well covered they are in that area.
Gomes can play as a winger or a number 10, and is currently valued at €5m by Transfermarkt. We would expect the real fee to be €20m or similar, if he continues to impress. He’s currently on the bench more often that not, but had a good run of starts for the team back in September, and will be hoping to build up his CV significantly before next summer when the European transfer markets open again.