Chelsea close to signing Barcelona target Gabriel Moscardo

Chelsea are closing in on Brazilian sensation Gabriel Moscardo from Corinthians, according to SPORT.

The young defensive midfielder is an exciting talent, and the Brazilian club want €30 million to let him go.

Moscardo came to the limelight after only 12 appearances for the Corinthians under-20 team.

The teenager was recently promoted to their first team and has featured in 11 matches.

Moscardo was on the radar of several top European clubs even before he made his debut.

Barcelona were interested and tried to sign him but could not get the deal done due to financial limitations.

Barca’s new football director, Deco, has an expansive knowledge of the Brazilian market. It is one of the reasons why the club hired him.

Deco identified the 17-year-old as a target, and the Catalans pursued him earlier this year before giving up.

Chelsea have now entered the picture and are close to securing his services.

The Blues have been relentless in their pursuit of young talents from Europe and South America despite massive gaping holes in their first-team squad.

They have already signed Andrey Santos from Vasco da Gama, Deivid Washington and Angelo Gabriel from Santos.

Since the arrival of the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital consortium at Stamford Bridge last year, Chelsea have spent aggressively in the market on young players for the future.

Apart from the aforementioned Brazilian trio, Chelsea have snapped up Cesare Casadei, Carnet Chukwuemeka, Diego Moreira, Gabriel Slonina, Kendry Paez and Lesley Ugochukwu.

It looks like their youth recruitment drive is not stopping anytime soon despite spending over £1 billion without much to show for it on the pitch.