Chelsea came close to signing Brazil international before he replaced Estevao Willian

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It is fair to say that, down the years, Chelsea have absolutely loved having a Brazil international in their squad.

Right now, they have several, with Estevao Willian, Joao Pedro and Andrey Santos all currently part of the roster at Stamford Bridge.

In the past, Chelsea have also had the likes of Thiago Silva, Willian and David Luiz in their squad. Ultimately, it is quite a long list.

One former director of a Brazilian football club has now revealed that the Blues also came close to signing another Selecao star while he was playing for one of their London rivals.

• READ MORE: Forget Liverpool, what Estevao Willian did to one Brazilian team in 2024 youth game was truly insane

Andreas Pereira almost left Fulham for Chelsea

Last July, it was claimed that Chelsea enquired about signing Andreas Pereira from Fulham.

Former Flamengo director Bruno Spindel did not confirm when, but according to him, Chelsea did come close to recruiting Pereira at one point before an injury caused a deal to collapse.

In an interview with Globo Esporte, Spindel said: “When he left [Flamengo], he ended up going to Fulham and then almost went to Chelsea, but he had an injury.”

Pereira spent a year at Flamengo on loan and is back in Brazil after joining Palmeiras in the summer.

There, he has been playing as a winger and an attacking midfielder, meaning that the 29-year-old has effectively replaced Estevao, who is now shining at Chelsea.

Estevao was excellent for Chelsea after coming off the bench in their 2-1 victory over Liverpool. His winning goal against the Reds is something that the Brazilian youngster will never forget.

Andreas Pereira’s record against Chelsea

During his time in England, Pereira was pretty successful against the Blues. Perhaps that is why they wanted to buy him!

Pereira never managed to score against the Club World Cup champions, but the former Fulham and Manchester United man was normally on the winning side when he faced them. In total, Pereira managed to record six victories over Chelsea.

Chelsea were also linked with Pereira when it was starting to become clear that Mason Mount would be leaving the club.

Mount eventually signed for Pereira’s old side United but has had a really difficult time there because of injuries.