José Mourinho is confident the Brazilian starlet Kenedy can have a future at Chelsea.
The 19 year-old has been with the Premier League champions during their North American tour and made his debut on Tuesday night against Barcelona.
Kenedy, who is owned by Fluminese and would cost around £6.3m, played for 45 minutes here and impressed Mourinho.
Football Association work permit rules appear to make it difficult for the Brazilian to sign for Chelsea as he is yet to make an appearance for the national team despite having played a under-17 and under-20 level.
Mourinho, however, is hopeful Kenedy can become part of his squad. He said: “We bought Kenedy because we believe in him. He’s a very young kid that we believe a lot in, hopefully.
“We have conditions to get him a work permit because we want him. We don’t want him to go out on loan. I think we have what the rules demand to get him a permit.
“He was in pre-season with us without the documents so he couldn’t play the first two matches for us. Against Barcelona he had the chance to do it and even if it was a friendly I think it was the best debut for a kid, to play against the best team. It was a great night for the kid and a great experience.”
