According to a report in the Mirror newspaper, Chelsea are eyeing Santos youngster Neilton as a possible £5 million recruit following his displays at the 2013 Copa São Paulo youth tournament last month.
Neilton, 19 in ten days time, is yet to make his first team breakthrough for the Paulista side, but impressed greatly at youth level—having initially been left out of the club’s starting lineup at the event.
The youngster, who has somewhat modelled himself on Neymar, forced his way into the side with a series of energetic performances, before scoring a marvellous semi-final hat-trick (below).
Having watched Neilton’s performances in the latter stages of the Copinha, Neymar said of the youngster: “Neilton is a great kid. He has everything to be a big star in football.
“I’m happy because he’s a good guy and a brilliant player. He has a lot of talent. I hope he can continue to play beautiful football like this.”
The biggest issue the young forward faces, though, is consistency. His manager has freely admitted that he never knows what type of performance his player will put in over 90 minutes and that could be his biggest obstacle in coming years.
Quick and undoubtedly talented, Neilton has enough about him to play at senior level. Stories linking him with a move to one of Europe’s elite, however, would appear to be a bit premature.
Source: Mirror Football
