Chelsea owner Todd Boehly repeats trick as target all-but confirms transfer

Sport Recife full-back Pedro Lima has confirmed that he is set to become the latest Brazilian prospect to be recruited by Todd Boehly this summer. The Chelsea owner has placed an emphasis on signing talented young players from South America and is close to poaching Lima for the Blues’ sister club.

The 21-year-old is nearing a permanent move to Strasbourg, who were taken over by the BlueCo ownership banner last year. He is not expected to make a move to Chelsea but the Blues will keep a close eye on his development in France, according to the Evening Standard.

Lima, who is regarded as one of the best young prospects in South America, has confirmed that he is close to joining Strasbourg after being poached by Chelsea’s ownership group. Discussing his future in an interview with Globo, he said: “Yes, it’s almost a done deal. It’s almost completed.”

Chelsea have been hoovering up Brazilian talent in recent transfer windows, having already signed the likes of Andrey Santos, Deivid Washington, Angelo Gabriel and Kendry Paez. Santos and Angelo spent last season at Strasbourg with the aim of gaining experience in senior football before returning to Stamford Bridge.

Estevao Willian is also poised to join the Blues for a fee in the region of £51.4million in the summer of 2025. The Palmeiras winger will become the most expensive teenage player from South America when he moves to Chelsea, surpassing the reported £51m fee paid by Real Madrid to land Endrick.

It seems likely that Chelsea will continue to use Strasbourg as a proving ground for some of their best young players over the coming years. Boehly has already underlined the importance of using a multi-club model to aid the development paths of Chelsea’s budding prospects.

“I think there’s different countries where there’s advantages to having a club,” he said at the SALT Conference in New York two years ago, before Strasbourg were taken over by BlueCo.

“Red Bull have Salzburg and Leipzig in the Champions League. I want to continue building out the footprint. I think there’s different countries where there’s advantages to having a club. We know people and human capital, we understand game plans and strategies.

“We’re not expecting to be the football experts to find the best talent, we are going to put those people in place. The challenge that Chelsea has, when you have 18, 19, 20-year-old superstars, you can loan them out to clubs but you put their development in someone else’s hands.”