Chelsea look to have beaten the likes of Manchester United and Barcelona to the signature of Fluminense forward Kenedy.

The 19-year-old—supposedly the “next Neymar“—is reportedly set for an €8 million (£5.8 million) move to Stamford Bridge in the summer, per Simon Johnson in the Evening Standard.

According to Johnson, Chelsea “look certain” to complete the deal for the highly rated striker. Kenedy‘s agent, former Blues midfielder Deco, is cited as a key component in tempting the youngster to Chelsea ahead of Barca, United, Inter Milan and Juventus.

It looks set to be something of a convoluted deal, with Globe Esporte (h/t GianlucaDiMarzio.com) reporting that Kenedy will be sold to an investment fund before he is moved on to Chelsea.

SportWitness indicates agent Giuliano Bertolucci as a key player—representative of Willian, Ramires and Oscar—working as an intermediary between Fluminense, Chelsea and the unnamed investment fund: 

Certainly Chelsea would seem like a good fit for Kenedy, given their core group of Brazilian players along with Portuguese boss Jose Mourinho.

Kenedy is still far from being the complete package, and he is some way off the level of Neymar, per B/R UK’s Guillem Balague, but he certainly has immense talent and potential:

The profile of those clubs reported to be interested in him is proof enough that he is tipped as being a future world star.

Johnson reports that, should Kenedy join Chelsea, he would likely be loaned out elsewhere for at least a season, an unsurprising move as an immediate first-team spot at Stamford Bridge is highly unlikely.

While he has performed well for Fluminense—and has been capped at under-17 and under-20 level by Brazil—he is thus far unproven in Europe, and would likely benefit from regular football away from title-chasing Chelsea.

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