“Verbal agreement” now in place for €57m deal for wonderkid exclusive claims | OneFootball

The reporting on Estevao Willian’s move to Chelsea has been headed up by Fabrizio Romano in the main, but there’s been a major breakthrough today, with reporting headed up by Simon Johnson of the Athletic.

He writes that Chelsea have now reached a “verbal agreement” with Willian’s club Palmeiras for his transfer. An initial fee of €34m will be followed by a potential €23m in potential add ons and bonuses. This is a very similar deal to the one that will take Willian’s erstwhile teammate Endrick to Real Madrid this summer.

Interestingly Johnson confirms that those bonuses will be based on Willian’s performances at Palmeiras as well as at Chelsea. So his current club are incentivised to use him as much as possible in the 12 months before he can join the Blues in the summer of 2025.

All the reporting from Romano and others before held that personal terms with the 17 year old were already agreed, so this deal between the clubs should mean a deal is now sealed. Now just paperwork is all that stands between Chelsea and securing a deal for a truly special talent.

Johnson adds that Chelsea have been following the winger nicknamed “Messinho” for years, and we first reported on serious interest back in November last year.

Estevao Willian playing for Palmeiras.

A deal that divides opinion

Chelsea’s transfer strategy for this summer remains somewhat mysterious as we’re not yet clear on their financial situation. But clearly Willian is seen as an unmissable talent, even if he won’t be able to contribute to the first team for at least a year. €34m is a huge sum for an unproven talent, but equally given the crazy money spent on players like Mykhailo Mudryk who were almost as unproven and significantly less highly rated, perhaps it’s not so mad after all.

Certainly this is a move which is set to get Chelsea fans frothing with excitment.