Japan midfielder Alessandro Santos has agreed on a move to English Premier League club Charlton Athletic from Shimizu S-Pulse, soccer sources said Thursday.
Santos, who has been training with the South London club since Tuesday, is due to sign a five-year full transfer deal Friday for a fee of around 450 million yen and an estimated first-year salary of 144 million yen.
The Brazilian-born winger made his debut for Japan against Ukraine in March and attracted interest from Charlton and a host of other European teams after impressing during this summer's World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
"Charlton obviously rates him (Santos) highly and I just hope he proves himself in the Premier League. It would also be good to see him return to Japan to play for the national team again," said Shimizu technical director Hiroshi Sawairi.
The 25-year-old Santos, voted J. League player of the year in 1999, arrived in Japan in 1994 as a high school student and obtained Japanese nationality last November.