Living with its tradition to hire young n promising talent right in their teen age, Chelsea has signed a deal to transfer Brazilian club Fluminense’s highly rated right-back Wallace Oliveira dos Santos. According to the contract, the young starlet will remain with his ex-club until this season, and in January transfer window; he will be shifted to Stamford Bridge. The 18-year old player has been in the notice of many top clubs in last few years, coz of his style of play and his comparison with Real Madrid’s Marcelo who was also once associated with the same Brazilian club. Wallace was the part of under-20 Brazilian international that won South American under-17 championship along with securing fourth place at the World Cup in Mexico. He made his senior debut this season and made as many as 18 appearances for Fluminense and showed his impressive gameplay in league championship, Rio State League, and Guanabara Cup.
The amount involved in this deal is not yet disclosed by anyone, but as per some reports in the media, deal amount could anywhere be between £5 million to £7 million. Notably, Chelsea has only acquired 40% stack in the player as a part of its two-year old deal whereby it transferred its midfielder Deco to Fluminense. The dominance of Brazilians in Chelsea’s A-Team is clearly visible, as there are five Brazilians in the prime lead of European champions. Besides Wallace, other players are David Luiz, Ramires, Oscar and Luis Piazon. Chelsea, who is rightly placed on the third spot in EPL, has actually been missing wins since last few matches, so this transfer can boost a level of confidence among its players especially his national teammates.
Informing about this deal, Chelsea issued a statement via its website titled, ‘WALLACE DEAL AGREED’ that reads as, “Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce we have agreed terms with Fluminense for the transfer of Wallace in the January window.
“As part of the deal, the 18-year-old defender will remain with Fluminense until the end of the season.
“An attacking right-back, Wallace Oliveira dos Santos was born on May 1, 1994, and made his senior debut this year at the age of 17.
“He has since gone on to appear 18 times in the league for the first team, helping them to the Brazilian league championship, the Rio State League and the Guanabara Cup.
“Wallace, an Under-20 international, was part of the Brazil squad that won the South American Under-17 championship last year, and helped his country to a fourth-placed finish at the World Cup in Mexico at the same level, playing alongside Lucas Piazon.
“Fluminense is the club that both Deco and Juliano Belletti left Chelsea for in the summer of 2010.”