Todd Boehly is quite used to getting any player that he wants, as his Chelsea record will testify. But the American billionaire might have met his match when it comes to trying to acquire the services of Gabriel Moscardo. The 18-year-old midfielder has been turning heads in Brazil after breaking into the Corinthians first team and is now wanted by some of the biggest clubs in European football.
Boehly has spent over £1billion on player transfers and loans since he took control of the West London club in 2022, but a shift in focus to trying to snap up the world’s best up-and-coming talent has proven to be harder than it first appeared.
Corinthians’ incoming president Augusto Melo has revealed what he told Boehly when he came calling for Moscardo last summer.
The Blues were reportedly prepared to pay up to £26million to bring the teenager to Stamford Bridge, but Melo told Foot Mercato that he would never sell the club’s prize possession for the price that Chelsea were seeking.
He said: “I’m not a salesman. Our player, trained at home, will be our third best-seller, at least. He’s an 18-year-old boy, he’s in transition, he’s gaining weight now.
“It will ripen further so that we can sell it for three or four times more than it is worth. We have to sell well on the market again. I made it clear, I joked with him (Todd Boehly), I told him I wouldn’t sell. I will never sell for what they offer. It is more than 40 million euros at least.”
Only last month SCCP News reported that Chelsea and Corinthians had agreed on a deal to bring Moscardo to the Premier League, although a fee was not mentioned.
However, that claim could be wide of the mark, with Le Parisien now reporting that Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain are making “good progress” on a deal for the Brazil U23 international that would see him move to the French capital in the summer.
Chelsea’s need to acquire another central midfielder is not exactly pressing. The Blues signed Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia from under the noses of rivals Liverpool during the last transfer window and also have record signing Enzo Fernadez in the engine room.
Instead, attention could be turned to increasing the Blue’s firepower with Napoli striker Victor Osimhen considered a strong target to make the switch to Stamford Bridge next season.
