Real Madrid reach 'verbal agreement' to sign Brazilian starlet Alan from Palmeiras

Alan de Souza Guimaraes looks set to follow fellow Brazilian starlet Vinicius Junior to Real Madrid, with reports from Spain suggesting that a verbal agreement has been reached for the Palmeiras attacking midfielder to move to the Santiago Bernabeu next summer.

Real Madrid are said to have been keeping a watchful eye on Alan since last year's Under-17 Club World Cup in Madrid. It was reported in March that they had registered their interest through high-profile South American agent Juan Figer.

AS claimed on Friday (20 October) that talks have now progressed to the stage where the 17-year-old, previously believed to have rejected the likes of Inter Milan during his formative years with Sao Paulo, is expected to join Los Blancos after his 18th birthday in 2018.

However, it is understood that the reigning Spanish and European champions will seek to take advantage of the fact that he now has less than two years remaining on his current contract at Palmeiras and attempt to agree a price that is lower than his €50m (£44.9m, $59m) release clause.

AS add that Alan will initially link up with reserve side Real Madrid Castilla.

Real Madrid are certainly not afraid to splash out hefty sums on promising young talent, a point emphatically reiterated back in May when it was confirmed that they would pay £38.7m to sign Vinicius Junior. The teenage forward is expected to remain on loan at Flamengo until 2019, although he could yet be brought to Europe earlier than planned.

It was also suggested earlier this week that Real Madrid are on a collision course with fierce rivals Barcelona for another Flamengo prodigy in Lincoln who, like Alan, is currently starring for favourites Brazil at the Under-17 World Cup in India. Vinicius also earned selection for the tournament, but was not released by his club following their Copa do Brasil final defeat to Cruzeiro.

Vinicius and Lincoln finished as the two top scorers at the South American Under-17 Championship in Chile earlier this year, while the influential Alan registered a number of assists as Brazil won their 12th title without losing a single game.