‘Will realise the dream’ – Chelsea closing in on £15m signing of 18-year-old Santos forward

Chelsea are close to signing Santos forward Angelo Gabriel in a deal worth around £15 million.

The 18-year-old has scored two goals in 12 appearances in the Brazilian Serie A this season.

Santos has caught the attention of Chelsea, whose owners have just acquired a majority stake in Ligue 1 side RC Strasbourg, and the Blues are close to finalising a transfer for the teenager.

As reported by Brazilian journalist Vene Casagrande, Chelsea are on the verge of clinching a deal for the attacker.

Angelo was presented with a proposal at the beginning of the year by Flamengo, it’s reported by Vene Casagrande, and will now instead ‘realise the dream’ of moving to Europe and joining the two-time Champions League winners.

A dedicated account to Brazilian football, BrasilEdition, offered an assessment of Angelo, writing: “One of the best dribblers in football, but he has to work in his end product, needs to be more aggressive in the final third, take more shots.”

Chelsea will likely send Angelo out on loan once he arrives at the club and it could be to one of their feeder clubs, currently only RC Strasbourg, with talks ongoing over a potential Portuguese club acquisition.

Fellow Brazilian youngster Andrey Santos has flown back to England after featuring at the U20 World Cup and concluding his loan at Vasco da Gama, which has seen him obtain a work permit, as he prepares to join up with the Chelsea squad for pre-season following his transfer earlier this year.