Chelsea land Bosingwa

Chelsea have agreed three-year deal with defender Jose Bosingwa

Chelsea have beaten Manchester United to the signing of Porto right-back Jose Bosingwa, for a fee of £16.1million.

The Blues have confirmed the player has agreed a three-year contract with the Stamford Bridge club and will join after this summer's European Championships.

Boswinga told Chelsea TV : "I have friends who are at Chelsea and it's a club I feel I can improve at and grow as a player."

He added: "I've always had a dream to play in England - I always watched the Premier League as a child, I love the English game and now I'm here I'm going to work to do my best.

"I played for a big team in Porto and now I'm going to play for a bigger team in Chelsea. My aim is to win titles."

It represents a welcome success for Chelsea the after United pipped them to the Barclays Premier League title. Sir Alex Ferguson's side have long been in the hunt for a right-back and assistant coach Carlos Queiroz confirmed their interest in Bosingwa earlier in the season.

United saw him as a successor to Gary Neville but Chelsea have moved swiftly to snap up the attack-minded 25-year-old.

The Portugal international's arrival will place more speculation around the future of Juliano Belletti. The Brazilian has been sidelined in recent weeks, with Michael Essien playing at right-back.

Chelsea's other right-back, Portugal's Paulo Ferreira, signed a five-year deal earlier this season and is unlikely to move on.

Bosingwa began his career mainly playing in midfield for Boavista, for whom he made more than 40 appearances. HE moved to Porto in 2003, where he played under former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho and has been their first-choice right-back for the last three seasons.