Chelsea agree to sign Arsenal star's cousin on huge seven-year deal

Chelsea have agreed to sign teenage Corinthians defender Denner Evangelista on a seven year contract.

The 17-year old left back will join Chelsea next year when he turns 18. The deal will cost an initial £8.25million with a further £3.3m to follow in bonus payments.

Corinthians also retain a 15 per cent sell-on for Denner, a Brazil Under 21s international, who is a cousin of Arsenal centre back Gabriel Magalhaes.

The youngster participated in the well-documented tournament for U20s in Sao Paulo, Copinha, in which his side finished second following their 3-2 defeat in the final last month.

Denner left a strong impression throughout the tournament, managing to score three goals while providing one assist in eight appearances.

The 17-year-old prospect already made his debut for Brazil's youth system in October 2024, featuring in four games for the U15s squad against Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Chelsea want to sign a striker and centre back this summer. They retain an interest in Ipswich Town's Liam Delap while club scouts checked on Bologna's Sam Beukema against AC Milan last week.

Delap joined the Blues permanently last summer after several years spent on loan while being part of Manchester City's youth squads.

While his side is one of the candidates for relegation in the upcoming summer, the Winchester-born striker demonstrated strong abilities throughout the entire season, with 10 goals and two assists in 26 Premier League matches.