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Chelsea set to complete transfer for Arsenal star’s cousin in £12.4m deal
The Blues are bringing in a new left-back!
Chelsea are set to sign Denner Alves Evangelista Pereira, according to reports, who is the cousin of current Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhaes.
Known simply as Denner, Chelsea will pay a total of €15m (£12.4m) – which includes add-ons – to bring the 17-year-old left-back to Stamford Bridge.
The teenager has spent his entire career at Brazilian club Corinthians to date, conjuring up five goal involvements in 18 games for their U20s side.
Denner, who has not made his senior debut for Corinthians, will join Chelsea in the summer of 2026 once his 18th birthday has passed.
Chelsea are prepared to officially seal the deal for the Brazilian youngster this weekend, according to football transfers expert Fabrizio Romano.
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Denner recently earned his first call-up to Brazil U17s ahead of the 2025 South American U17 Championship, which gets underway this month.
The wonderkid has massively impressed for Corinthians U20s, helping them to a runner-up finish in the 2025 Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior.
Denner is the cousin of Arsenal centre-back Gabriel, who has played 205 games for the Gunners to date and has formed a key partnership with William Saliba under the management of Mikel Arteta at the Emirates.
It is thought that Corinthians will have a sell-on clause as part of their deal to sell Denner to Chelsea.
The Blues have built a reputation for bringing in young Brazilian players in recent years, with Denner set to follow in the footsteps of Andrey Santos and Deivid Washington, currently out on loan at Strasbourg and Santos.
Chelsea have also already confirmed the signing of Estevao Willian from Palmerias, with the Brazilian teenager set to join at the end of this season.
Estevao looks set for a massive future, with Brazil legend Ronaldo comparing him to Barcelona and Spain star Lamine Yamal in December.
Neymar has lauded the young Brazilian too, predicting the teenager will go on to prove himself as a ‘genius’ in the game.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have hatched a plan to make Santos a key player under Enzo Maresca next term.
Chelsea are thought to be ‘very happy’ with the central midfielder’s development at Strasbourg and he’ll link up with Maresca’s team in June.
Liam Rosenior, head coach of Strasbourg, is a massive fan of Santos and heaped praise on him in an interview with The Athletic in January.
‘Andrey is going to have a magnificent career,’ Rosenior said. ‘You forget how young some of them are.
‘Andrey plays like he’s 32. I call him Dunga (after Brazil’s 1994 World Cup-winning captain): he’s Brazilian but he doesn’t play like one.
‘He’s so smart and his stats are through the roof, in terms of scoring goals, winning duels. He’s going to have an outstanding career.’
