Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos could push for a move away from Stamford Bridge this summer, considering the interest from Premier League rival Arsenal and European Champions, Paris Saint-Germain.
The 21-year-old impressed by scoring 11 goals and providing 4 assists in 34 appearances at Strasbourg last season, returning to his parent club to take part in the Club World Cup.
According to BBC, Chelsea would prefer to keep Santos as part of their squad, valuing his potential contribution. However, the 21-year-old may consider seeking a move if regular minutes continue to be hard to come by.
The Brazil international made his debut off the bench in the victory over ES Tunis this week with Enzo Maresca insisting he needs more time to ‘understand how we play.’
Chelsea squad depth continues to improve with the arrival of Liam Delap, Dario Essugo, and Mamadou Sarr as they also expect the Brazilian sensation Estevao Willian to join up at the start of preseason.
Plenty of departures are also expected. Players not included in the Club World Cup squad, including Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell, Joao Felix, Axel Disasi, Renato Veiga, Armando Broja, Djordje Petrovic and Lesley Ugochukwu, are all available for transfer.
According to the report, no player in the Chelsea squad is regarded as ‘untouchable’ this summer, except Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo.
Amid rising speculation over his next move, Chelsea wants him to remain at the club as a squad player this season. PSG and Bayern Munich have been credited with interest in the 21-year-old, while Arsenal have also explored a move.
It remains to be seen if that interest remains after the club’s move to sign Christian Norgaard from Brentford this week.
In any case, Santos will have no shortage of suitors if Chelsea decides to cash I,n with the report stating the midfielder could push for an exit himself.
Maresca’s comments this week suggested Santos has a big job on his hands in displacing Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez as his first-choice options in midfield.’
‘He’s working well, but he needs to understand how we play,’ Maresca said.
‘It’s the same for all of the new ones. It’s important for them to continue in the way they are working to get opportunities.’
Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke are two first-team stars also facing uncertain futures.
What Andrey Santos wants
Speaking to journalist Eduardo Burgos earlier, before the Club World Cup, Santos said: “In principle, I’m staying at Chelsea. I want to play, I want to get minutes so I can earn my place at the World Cup. I want to establish myself at Chelsea, I want to play regularly and be an undisputed starter, and win titles in this shirt.”