Real Madrid have a stellar record of attracting the best Brazilian talents in recent years, with the likes of Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes, Reinier Junior and most recently Endrick Felipe all arriving at the hand of Chief of Recruitment Juni Calafat. However they are not without rivals.
Recently Chelsea have been making a major push in the Brazilian market, and Andrey Santos and Angelo Gabriel are the latest recruits at Stamford Bridge from a promising generation coming through in Brazil.
According to Diario AS, who reference news first reported by Vene Casagrande, the Todd Boehly-backed Chelsea are in pole position to sign Flamengo winger Matheus Franca. They have made a €25m bid for the 19-year-old.
19-year-old Flamengo starlet Matheus Franca is a target for Real Madrid, as per Diario AS.#HalaMadrid #Flamengo pic.twitter.com/RyIjgyswEf
— Football España (@footballespana_) July 4, 2023
Real Madrid have been interested in Franca for some time, along with others, but that bid makes matters tricky for them – the jist is that Los Blancos were not intending on making such a large investment in Franca.
France made his debut in 2021, and has operated as a central midfielder and centre-forward as much as he has a wide player. Over the past two years, he has already played 53 times, scoring 9 goals for statistically Brazil’s biggest side.
