Chelsea will not let Andrey Santos leave this summer – but can he make an impact?
By Simon JohnsonStrasbourg are not the only club to be feeling a bit of disappointment over Andrey Santos right now.
After impressing on loan during the second half of this season in Ligue 1, Strasbourg made it clear to Chelseahow much they wanted to take the Brazilian midfielder back on loan again, this time for the entirety of the 2024-25 campaign.
Chelsea gave Strasbourg, who are part of their multi-club model, the same answer as a number of Champions Leagueteams who have also made an enquiry over the last few months: he is not for sale or loan and will be staying at Stamford Bridge.
The news appears to have been warmly received by Chelsea’s fanbase — if social media can be considered a reliable guide — but the question of where he is going to fit in needs to be asked. What he did at Strasbourg helps provide some of the answers.
It has been some turnaround for the 20-year-old in a short amount of time. Bought from Vasco da Gama last year for £18million ($22.8m), Santos had a promising pre-season with Chelsea before being sent on loan to get first-team experience at Nottingham Forest.
The move could not have gone much worse. Soon after his arrival, Nottingham Forestbought midfielders Ibrahim Sangare(for in excess of £30million from PSV Eindhoven) and Nicolas Dominguez(from Bologna for €8million). Head coach Steve Cooper prioritised the pair and Santos played just 96 minutes for the Premier Leagueclub. It was no surprise that the season-long agreement was cut short in January.
Strasbourg were not prioritising a central midfielder in the January transfer window. They wanted a winger and a left-back but ended up acquiring Santos on a short-term deal, plus 34-year-old goalkeeper Matthieu Dreyer on a free from Saint-Etienne.
Not much was expected of Santos at the start given his lack of minutes at Forest. Before joining up, he also suffered the ignominy of being part of the first Brazilsquad to fail to qualify for the Olympicssince 2004.
Yet Santos won head coach Patrick Vieira over quickly. His first two appearances were as a substitute but following a few more weeks of training he was starting next to Habib Diarra against Nantes in central midfield in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Strasbourg went into that match under pressure as they sat just one point above the relegation zone. They went on to win 3-1 and Santos started every game after that for the rest of the season. Even when Vieira changed to a 4-3-3 system, Santos was given the important responsibility of being the holding midfielder in front of the back four. Diarra was shifted out wider to accommodate him, which was some compliment.
His performances did not go unnoticed. Vieira was very complimentary. “Andrey took a few weeks to adapt to the athletic aspect but since his first match he is very comfortable,” the former Arsenalmidfielder said. “He has great maturity despite his age. Andrey is calm when he has the ball at his feet. He has the technical quality to build from the back as well.”
There were awards too. He was named Ligue 1’s Young Player of the Month for March, while he was given Strasbourg’s Player of the Month accolade for April and May. Chelsea were delighted to see him get 831 minutes on the pitch, a huge contrast to what he went through at Nottingham Forest.
With him in the team, Strasbourg won four of their last nine games to climb 10 points clear of relegation. An indication of his impact came in April with Strasbourg highlighting how he ran an average of 12.07 km and recovered possession 8.5 times per match, which were the highest numbers at the club.
Regular observers described him as a playmaker who was comfortable in possession, knowing when to speed up the play or slow it down. While not much of a threat in attack, he did score a late winner against rivals Metz last month to cement his popularity with the home crowd.
But how is he going to find room to make an impact at Chelsea? Even if they manage to sell Conor Gallagher, they still have Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Romeo Laviaand Lesley Ugochukwuto choose from in central midfield, players that cost nearly £300million between them.
One source at Chelsea, who asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships, has no doubts. They said: “Stylistically, Santos is a perfect fit to play under Enzo Maresca. His ball retention is out of this world. He can play as a No 6 or a No 8 — so he is versatile.”
You can understand why there is so much optimism. Maresca likes to play a possession-based game with two holding midfielders offering protection, whether it is in a 4-2-3-1, a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 when pressing.
Chelsea have a very busy season in store should they win their qualifier for the Conference League, as the squad will be challenging on four fronts again. There is also the Club World Cup in 12 months. Rotation will be a must, especially for Fernandez and Caicedo. Fernandez had to have surgery on a hernia problem in March, a problem he played with for months. This had a negative impact on his form. Meanwhile, only Gallagher (50) made more appearances in 2023-24 than Caicedo (48).
The club will obviously hope that Lavia and Ugochukwu can play a bigger role after starting only three Premier League games between them under Mauricio Pochettino due to injury but by not being involved in the Olympics, Santos will have a chance to impress Maresca when pre-season begins next month. The ambitious youngster will aim to do just that.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5556153/2024/06/12/chelsea-andrey-santos-analysis/
Chelsea will not let Andrey Santos leave this summer – but can he make an impact?
By Simon JohnsonStrasbourg are not the only club to be feeling a bit of disappointment over Andrey Santos right now.
After impressing on loan during the second half of this season in Ligue 1, Strasbourg made it clear to Chelseahow much they wanted to take the Brazilian midfielder back on loan again, this time for the entirety of the 2024-25 campaign.
Chelsea gave Strasbourg, who are part of their multi-club model, the same answer as a number of Champions Leagueteams who have also made an enquiry over the last few months: he is not for sale or loan and will be staying at Stamford Bridge.
The news appears to have been warmly received by Chelsea’s fanbase — if social media can be considered a reliable guide — but the question of where he is going to fit in needs to be asked. What he did at Strasbourg helps provide some of the answers.
It has been some turnaround for the 20-year-old in a short amount of time. Bought from Vasco da Gama last year for £18million ($22.8m), Santos had a promising pre-season with Chelsea before being sent on loan to get first-team experience at Nottingham Forest.
The move could not have gone much worse. Soon after his arrival, Nottingham Forestbought midfielders Ibrahim Sangare(for in excess of £30million from PSV Eindhoven) and Nicolas Dominguez(from Bologna for €8million). Head coach Steve Cooper prioritised the pair and Santos played just 96 minutes for the Premier Leagueclub. It was no surprise that the season-long agreement was cut short in January.
Strasbourg were not prioritising a central midfielder in the January transfer window. They wanted a winger and a left-back but ended up acquiring Santos on a short-term deal, plus 34-year-old goalkeeper Matthieu Dreyer on a free from Saint-Etienne.
Not much was expected of Santos at the start given his lack of minutes at Forest. Before joining up, he also suffered the ignominy of being part of the first Brazilsquad to fail to qualify for the Olympicssince 2004.
Yet Santos won head coach Patrick Vieira over quickly. His first two appearances were as a substitute but following a few more weeks of training he was starting next to Habib Diarra against Nantes in central midfield in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Strasbourg went into that match under pressure as they sat just one point above the relegation zone. They went on to win 3-1 and Santos started every game after that for the rest of the season. Even when Vieira changed to a 4-3-3 system, Santos was given the important responsibility of being the holding midfielder in front of the back four. Diarra was shifted out wider to accommodate him, which was some compliment.
His performances did not go unnoticed. Vieira was very complimentary. “Andrey took a few weeks to adapt to the athletic aspect but since his first match he is very comfortable,” the former Arsenalmidfielder said. “He has great maturity despite his age. Andrey is calm when he has the ball at his feet. He has the technical quality to build from the back as well.”
There were awards too. He was named Ligue 1’s Young Player of the Month for March, while he was given Strasbourg’s Player of the Month accolade for April and May. Chelsea were delighted to see him get 831 minutes on the pitch, a huge contrast to what he went through at Nottingham Forest.
With him in the team, Strasbourg won four of their last nine games to climb 10 points clear of relegation. An indication of his impact came in April with Strasbourg highlighting how he ran an average of 12.07 km and recovered possession 8.5 times per match, which were the highest numbers at the club.
Regular observers described him as a playmaker who was comfortable in possession, knowing when to speed up the play or slow it down. While not much of a threat in attack, he did score a late winner against rivals Metz last month to cement his popularity with the home crowd.
But how is he going to find room to make an impact at Chelsea? Even if they manage to sell Conor Gallagher, they still have Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Romeo Laviaand Lesley Ugochukwuto choose from in central midfield, players that cost nearly £300million between them.
One source at Chelsea, who asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships, has no doubts. They said: “Stylistically, Santos is a perfect fit to play under Enzo Maresca. His ball retention is out of this world. He can play as a No 6 or a No 8 — so he is versatile.”
You can understand why there is so much optimism. Maresca likes to play a possession-based game with two holding midfielders offering protection, whether it is in a 4-2-3-1, a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 when pressing.
Chelsea have a very busy season in store should they win their qualifier for the Conference League, as the squad will be challenging on four fronts again. There is also the Club World Cup in 12 months. Rotation will be a must, especially for Fernandez and Caicedo. Fernandez had to have surgery on a hernia problem in March, a problem he played with for months. This had a negative impact on his form. Meanwhile, only Gallagher (50) made more appearances in 2023-24 than Caicedo (48).
The club will obviously hope that Lavia and Ugochukwu can play a bigger role after starting only three Premier League games between them under Mauricio Pochettino due to injury but by not being involved in the Olympics, Santos will have a chance to impress Maresca when pre-season begins next month. The ambitious youngster will aim to do just that.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5556153/2024/06/12/chelsea-andrey-santos-analysis/
