Chelsea make their first move to land 16-year-old Barcelona, Real Madrid target

Palmeiras’ teenage striker Endrick is already sparking a major transfer war between top clubs in Europe even though he will be unable to move from Brazil for two more years.

Aged 16, the prodigious centre-forward has been making all the right noises throughout 2022, leading to him attracting interest from who’s who of European football.

Indeed, Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG, Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Ajax are some of the many clubs that have tracked Endrick’s progress through the youth ranks to the senior team at Palmeiras.

And according to The Times, Chelsea have made their move to try and beat their competitors to the signing of Endrick by hosting the young striker and his family at their Cobham training facility recently.

During the visit, Chelsea also introduced Endrick to veteran defender and Brazil legend Thiago Silva, so as to convince him to choose Stamford Bridge over other destinations like Barcelona and Real Madrid.

It must be noted that Endrick visited other clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid and PSG earlier in the year. But it is said that the Blues are said to be confident about their chances of landing the special prodigy who recently became Palmeiras’ youngest-ever goalscorer and won the Brazilian Serie A title.

It will take a significant financial package to sign Endrick from Palmeiras, which reportedly has put Barcelona on the backfoot.

Recent reports indicated that PSG had also made an offer for Endrick which was shot down while Real Madrid are believed to have sent executives to Brazil to hold talks with Palmeiras about a move.

Barça, as things stand, are not in a position to enter a bidding war for Endrick and have thus asked his camp to wait until the summer. But with other clubs making their moves, the Catalans run the risk of missing out on the 16-year-old prodigy.