Chelsea Could Beat Arsenal To High Rated Portuguese

Chelsea and Arsenal in recent days have been battling it out with each other both on and off the pitch.

From the 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge to the battle of who is going to sign German Midfielder Sami Khedira; and now the battle is set to continue on a different front, this time for FC Porto teenage sensation Andre Silva.

Jose Mourinho has registered interest in the 19-year-old Porto striker who is also a major target of Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and the two managers are set to go into another war that could well surpass the touch-line push and shove that was characteristic of the encounter at Stamford Bridge early October.

Mourinho is already in search of a goal machine that will take the place of veteran Didier Drogba when the powerful Ivorian retires at the end of the season and a lot of top talents have been linked to the club.

Chelsea have been known with paying astronomical fees for already-established players and strikers in particular with the case of Shevshenko and Torres readily coming to mind but the club looks to be departing from that norm with the recent acquisition of young talents around the globe.

It is believed that Chelsea have the highest number of young talents on loan at various clubs and the club is set to add more. Chelsea already have a plethora of players out on loan in different clubs and may start to bring in some of this players when needed.

Again, signing young players with minimal fee and developing them could yet be the way to go for most clubs even as the Financial Fair Play rule begins to bear it cruel effects on clubs. Clubs like Manchester City and PSG are already feeling the brunt of the FFP rule.

It’s on this premise that signing of Andre Silva makes a lot of economic sense for Chelsea. At just 19-years of age, he won’t cost Chelsea a fortune to sign him.

Silva, a product of the Porto youth academy has made some progress within the years. He has graduated into the senior team though he is yet to make appearance for the side in the Liga Don Zagres. He has however made 25 appearance for the Porto team B since 2012. Silva has also represented Portugal at the U-16, U-17, U-18, and U-19 levels.

With the player’s contract expiring in the summer and the player’s intent on moving to England, Chelsea could sign him up with a view of loaning him to other English teams where he can gain enough experience. Chelsea will however face a strong competition from Arsene Wenger who is seen as a developer of young talents.

Silva is young and one who will still need to develop if he moves to Chelsea in January or during the summer but acquiring him now will be the best for the club as his fee is bound to rise in the next few years if he continues at the rate at which he is developing at Porto. With the FFP rule starting to come hard on teams, signing them young will be the only way to remain FFP compliant.