Chelsea monitoring Vitor Roque after Real Madrid agree Endrick transfer — report

Real Madrid have agreed to sign 16-year-old (16!) Endrick form Palmeiras for a near-Brazilian record €72m, with the Palmeiras youngster set to actually join in July 2024 when he will come of legal age. (This transfer is second only to Neymar’s transfer to Barcelona, which may have cost as much as €83m.)

It doesn’t sound like Chelsea really had that much of a chance to land Endrick, with the youngster unsurprisingly swayed by the Galacticos’ pich, but maybe we’ll have better luck with whoever the next big thing out of Brazil will be.

And we might not have to wait too long to find out, with Athletico Paranaense’s Vitor Roque apparently that next big thing. Chelsea and all the other usual candidates (i.e. Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG, etc.) are all reportedly “monitoring” the young forward.

Vitor Roque is practically ancient at 17, going on 18 — his birthday is February 28, so does that mean he only gets to celebrate every four years?! — and is seen as a future Brazil star after his breakout season at Athletico-PR this year: 7 goals in 36 appearances across Séria A and Copa Libertadores matches, getting shortlisted as a finalist for the latter competition’s Player of the Season award, even. His release clause is a whopping €100m, though Globo expect him to go for something a bit closer to (but certainly still more than) Bruno Guimarães’ €20m move to Lyon in 2020.

Here we go again.