Report: Chelsea make bid for Brazilian prodigy Doria

Although the chase for senior players might be restricted to Wayne Rooney (if you believe Jose Mourinho, that is), it'd be unlike the Blues not to try to hoover up all of the young talent they can. So when you hear reports from Lancenet in Brazil that they're after 18-year-old centre back Doria... well, it's not something that we should ignore straight away.

Sambafoot's already done the translating for us, so here's the gist of what Lancenet are saying: Chelsea are offering a staggering €9.4 million for the Botafogo defender. That may seem like a lot, but he's been linked to top teams from all around the continent and Botafogo have already been rejecting bids in the €5 million range. Considering the success Roma had when they gambled on Marquinhos, we're going to see many more clubs adopt this sort of approach in future and the prices on these young talents will naturally rise.

Is Doria worth the money? He's a very good player, having already established himself as a first-teamer in a competitive league as well as part of Brazil's youth setup. He's big and strong, good in the air and comfortable on the ball -- his passing has shades of David Luiz to it, if you believe the reports. There's some work to be done defensively, but that's nothing unusual for his age, even amongst elite defensive prospects.

In other words, he's likely got a long career at the top level ahead of him. Worth dropping €9 million on? It's not out of the question, especially if we can recoup some of that via loan fees.