Chelsea may have their replacement lined up for £106 million midfielder Enzo Fernandez who has been struggling to impress the Stamford Bridge faithful. Loanee Andrey Santos has been impressing in Ligue 1 for BlueCo-owned Strasbourg; they sit tenth in the league but only four points off of the European places.
Andrey Santos Continues to Impress
Who Is Andrey Santos?
Santos was signed from Vasco Da Gama in Brazil for £18 million back in 2023 but is yet to play a Premier League game for Chelsea. The 20-year-old Brazilian spent half of the 23/24 season on loan at fellow Premier League club Nottingham Forest, but the loan was not as successful as Chelsea would’ve hoped. The midfielder only accumulated 96 minutes of Premier League action due to the big-money signings that Forest had made during the summer, such as Ibrahim Sangare.
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Stellar Start At Strasbourg
The Blues made the decision in January 2024 to send Santos to affiliate club Strasbourg in Ligue 1 for the remainder of the 23/24 season; under the management of Patrick Vieira, he thrived. Being described as having “great maturity beyond his age” by Vieira, he went on to play 831 minutes for the French side and win the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Month for March 2024. The young prospect scored one goal for Strasbourg in 23/24 but the underlying numbers are where he really impressed; completing 86% of his passes, having 1018 progressive carrying yards and drawing 24 fouls in just 11 games.
Constantly Improving
Chelsea made the decision to send Santos back to Strasbourg to continue his development for the 24/25 season and it’s safe to say the West London club have made the correct choice. The 20-year-old is the eighth highest-rated player in Ligue 1 this season after scoring three goals in seven games as well as having the most duels won in Ligue 1 this season with 58. His most notable performance came recently vs PSG, he impressed vs the champions with a 92% pass accuracy, 100% dribble success rate, ten duels won, four fouls won, one key pass and a 7.4 match rating.
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Chelsea will be hoping Santos carries this form throughout the rest of his time in France and potentially all the way back to England for the 25/26 season, where he could be the understudy or replacement to Argentinian Enzo Fernandez. He may be starting to feel the pressure from the shockwaves Santos is producing over in France; especially now that the Blues fans are starting to expect a bit more from the Argentine.
