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Premier League club Chelsea announce the signing of Brazilian international Oscar
Oscar is currently on international duty with Brazil at the London Olympics
The 20-year-old joins Chelsea from Brazilian club Internacional
European Champions League winners Chelsea have announced the signing of Brazil international Oscar from Internacional.
The 21-year-old is currently on international duty with Brazil at the London Olympics and has joined the English Premier League club on a five-year deal.
Oscar, who has been compared to compatriot Kaka, came through the youth system at Sao Paulo and was part of the Brazil side that won the Under-17 World Championships in 2008.
He moved to Internacional in 2010 and made his debut for the national side in September 2011, having represented his country at every level from Under-15 upwards.
Oscar’s first international goal came in a 4-3 friendly defeat to South American rivals Argentina, played in the United States last month.
He is the third high profile signing of the close season by Chelsea, who secured their first ever European Champions League triumph last season.
Belgium international Eden Hazard joined the London club from French side Lille for a reported fee of $49 million, while Marko Marin was also signed from German side Werder Bremen.
The trio of attacking players will look to provide the ammunition for Spain striker Fernando Torres, after Chelsea stalwart Didier Drogba left the club for China.
Midfielder Frank Lampard, who has been at Chelsea since 2001, said the club’s close season business will add fresh impetus to an experienced side, that also contains former England captain John Terry.
“Last year we proved to be a great team and a great unit in the second half of the season with what we achieved,” he told the club’s official website.
“This year maybe we are slightly different because we have more new young players coming in so there might not be the settled togetherness that we had on the pitch because we had been together a long time but there is an excitement about our team as well and that’s probably the main difference.
“Everyone is trying to impress, and you never lose that in pre-season, there’s not one manager I’ve met yet who will close the door on any player.
“We are all playing for our season at this stage trying to show Robbie that we are fit and ready regardless of last year. We have to perform at a high level to stay in the team because of the quality of the squad we have.”
Chelsea begin their Premier League campaign on Sunday 18 August with an away game at Wigan Athletic.
