Chelsea DENY Barcelona chance at signing their “future Sergio Busquets”
By Evan Curnew
Chelsea has seen a significant youth movement in their transfer strategy since Todd Boehly’s takeover. Omari Hutchinson, Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei, Diego Moreira and Malo Gusto are all 20 or younger. One recent signing that is causing headlines is 2004-born Andrey Santos.
The Brazilian midfielder signed for Chelsea back in January for £11M from Vasco de Gama. He was then loaned back to his boyhood club until June 2023. He has now returned from his loan and is part of pre-season training with Chelsea. The youngster will be looking to impress new boss Mauricio Pochettino, but it looks like he has been impressing other people already.
The Daily Mail report that Spanish giants Barcelona are admirers of Andrey Santos. They see the midfielder as someone who can imitate the role of former Barca player Sergio Busquets. Deco, who is now a sporting director with Barcelona, is believed to be a fan of the player, per Lucas Pedrosa. Xavi has reportedly given Deco the greenlight to pursue Andrey Santos, but it looks as though Chelsea have made Santos untouchable.
Fabrizio Romano flat-out denies that any club is currently negotiating with Chelsea for Andrey Santos. Romano states that while clubs around Europe hold an interest in Andrey Santos, the Brazilian youngster is expected to be evaluated by Mauricio Pochettino this pre-season. Perhaps if the midfielder still needs some time to develop, he could be sent out on loan. The Daily Mail state that Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto are interested in loaning in Santos.
Andrey Santos is the captain of Brazil’s U20 side. He featured for them in CONEMBOL’s qualifiers for the U20 World Cup. He then captained the team to a quarter-finals berth in the U20 World Cup, where they lost to Israel. Santos has also made his senior debut for Brazil, starting in a loss to Morocco in March.