Chelsea have beaten Manchester United to the £16.2million signing of Portugal international Jose Bosingwa.

The Blues agreed a £16.2million fee with Porto for the right-back over the weekend and the player arrived in England for talks and a medical on Monday.

The 25-year-old quickly agreed personal terms and passed a medical to seal his switch to Stamford Bridge.

In a statement Chelsea said: "We have reached agreement with FC Porto for the transfer of Jose Bosingwa. The player is in England to discuss personal terms and undergo a medical."

Avram Grant is likely to sell Juliano Belletti in the summer, who only joined Chelsea for £4m from Barcelona last summer.

But Paulo Ferreira will stay as a fringe member of the squad after signing a new five-year contract.

25-year-old Bosingwa, who has won six caps for Portugal, has developed into one of the best right-backs in the game since he was brought to Porto from Boavista in 2004 by then Blues manager Jose Mourinho.

United have long been in the hunt for a rightback and assistant coach Carlos Queiroz confirmed their interest earlier in the season, admitting: "He's a very good player and we are keeping an eye on him."

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

The player is the first part of Avram Grant's rebuilding plans as Chelsea look strengthen their squad ahead of next season.