According to HITC, Tottenham Hotspur are set to face defeat in their pursuit of Brazilian starlet Pedro Lima, who has now agreed personal terms with Chelsea.
Pedro Lima is a popular target this summer
Lima is making waves in Brazilian football, having established himself in Sport Recife’s first team despite being just 17 years of age.
The right-back’s impressive displays this season have reportedly caught the attention of a number of top European clubs, including Tottenham.
HITC claim Spurs have already enquired about the teenager’s availability over the last recent months while Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Manchester United have also shown interest in the youngster’s services.
Chelsea win the race to sign Pedro Lima
However, it is Chelsea who have sunk the defining blow, with the West London side agreeing personal terms with the Brazil under-17 international ahead of a summer move to Stamford Bridge.
The publication adds that the defender will arrive in West London when he turns 18 next month to sign a contract with the Blues.
This, of course, means that the likes of Spurs and Manchester United are set to miss out on the starlet.
Spurs Web Opinion
Even though Tottenham might have not been successful in their pursuit of Lima, it is good to see that the Lilywhites are continuing to keep tabs on the best-emerging talent from South America following their signing of Alejo Veliz last year.
Chelsea have a track record of signing young players and loaning them out for a number of years to purely try and make a profit on them, rather than having a pathway to the first team.
It is fair to say that Spurs have plenty of great young talent already and the next job should be bringing them through into the first-team.
Veliz experienced a difficult second half of the season where he hardly played any football on loan at Sevilla which did both him and the club no favours.
While it is great to recruit some of the best talent from across the globe, the club need to ensure that if they are going to head out on loan they need guaranteed football in the best league which suits their ability and a club which shares the same footballing philosophy as Tottenham.