Ramires to join Chelsea in £18m deal

The Blue Brazilian: Ramires will join ChelseaBrazilian World Cup star Ramires will arrive in London on Thursday for a medical after Benfica agreed to sell him to Chelsea in an £18.2million deal. Sportsmail revealed last month that Carlo Ancelotti was keen to sign the midfielder after his impressive displays in South Africa. Ramires is now set to sign a four-year contract at Stamford Bridge after the Portuguese champions confirmed to the Lisbon Stock Exchange that they had entered negotiations with the London club. Ramires was delayed in Portugal yesterday and Chelsea sources hadpreviously expressed concern he might fail to obtain a work permitafter playing in less than 75 per cent of Brazil's matches in the pasttwo years. However, the club are now confident that the 23-year-old will now be granted a permit through the 'special circumstances' appeal. Yury Zhirkov lined up by Zenit St Petersburg for £21m swoop to take Chelsea misfit back to RussiaChelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti: Why Yossi is better than Cole.NPOWER FOOTBALL LEAGUE PODCAST: World Cup hero Rory Fallon on his Plymouth return, plus moreCHELSEA FC

Source: Daily_Mail