West Ham & Arsenal target set for Premier League club talks after rejected £14m Newcastle bid

19-year-old Brazilian Matheus Franca was on Newcastle’s radar last season with the Magpies reportedly having a £14million offer rejected by Flamengo in January. The attacking midfielder scored three goals in 27 appearances for Flamengo during the 2022-23 campaign.

Arsenal, West Ham United and Crystal Palace have also been credited with an interest but now Chelsea are set to step up their pursuit with talks set to take place this week regarding a fee of at least £17million.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claims Chelsea have shown a ‘concrete interest’ in the Brazil Under-20 international though no official bid has been made so far.

Chelsea have already beaten Newcastle to the signing of one young Brazilian this year with Vasco de Gama’s Andrey Santos, who was scouted by The Magpies, joining The Blues in January. Newcastle has expanded its global recruitment network in recent months by appointing scouts specialising in South American football.

Head of recruitment Steve Nickson has also spent time in South America watching the likes of Andrey Santos and Angelo Gabriel of Santos. Athletico Paranaense striker Vitor Roque has also been on the club’s radar.

The Magpies are hoping to build on the recent success they have had with Brazilian players Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton by recruiting some of the country’s emerging talents for relatively low transfer fees.

Newcastle have made two signings so far this transfer window with Yankuba Minteh joining from Odense for a reported £7million and Sandro Tonali completing an Italian record transfer from AC Milan for an initial £52million.