Chelsea hatch plan to make ‘outstanding’ Brazilian a key player next season

Chelsea have hatched a plan to make ‘outstanding’ Brazilian star Andrey Santos a key player under Enzo Maresca next term, according to reports.

The Blues paid around £18m to sign Santos from Vasco da Gama in 2023 but he has not yet made his Chelsea debut amid three seperate loan spells.

Santos initially headed back to Vasco da Gama in Brazil and then joined Nottingham Forest on a season-long loan for the 2023-24 campaign.

Chelsea recalled Santos from Forest in January 2024, though, after he made just two appearances in five months at the Premier League club.

Santos was then loaned to Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg in February 2024, with the 20-year-old massively shining over in the French top-flight.

Strasbourg, who have the same owners as Chelsea – BlueCo – extended Santos’ loan in August 2024 for another season to continue his progress.

Football transfers expert Fabrizio Romano now reports that Chelsea want Santos back at Stamford Bridge for the 2025-26 campaign, where he is set to become a key player under Blues head coach Maresca.

Chelsea are thought to be ‘very happy’ with the central midfielder’s development at Strasbourg and he now will link up with Maresca’s team in June.

Liam Rosenior, head coach of Strasbourg, is a massive fan of Santos and lauded him in a recent interview with The Athletic.

‘Andrey is going to have a magnificent career,’ Rosenior said. ‘You forget how young some of them are.

‘Andrey plays like he’s 32. I call him Dunga (after Brazil’s 1994 World Cup-winning captain): he’s Brazilian but he doesn’t play like one.

‘He’s so smart and his stats are through the roof, in terms of scoring goals, winning duels. He’s going to have an outstanding career.’

Santos, who has one international cap for Brazil to date, is under contract with Chelsea until 2030.