There was a huge amount of excitement in January 2023 when Chelsea announced the signing of Brazilian wonderkid Andrey Santos.
After breaking into the Vasco da Gama first team, Chelsea signed the teenager for £13m before loaning him back to the Brazilian club for the next six months.
However, a move to Nottingham Forest in the summer couldn’t have gone much worse and HITC understands that three Championship sides are eyeing up the 19-year-old after he was recalled this week.
It seems incredibly unlikely that Mauricio Pochettino will have space in his squad for Andrey Santos heading into the second half of the campaign.
Both Romeo Lavia and Carney Chukwuemeka are set to return from injury and are ahead of their Brazilian teammate in the pecking order right now.
Chelsea must have correct call on Andrey Santos’s future in January
Making the transition from the Brazilian Serie A to the Premier League is never easy, especially for a young player.
He spent pre-season with his new side and new manager Pochettino and was reportedly very impressive behind the scenes.
Journalist Simon Phillips said at the time: “Andrey Santos is really impressing. Pochettino really likes him. In training he’s been excellent.
“I’ve heard that he puts in 110 per cent in every single drill, even if it’s just jogging. He’s the one putting the effort in.”
He went on to say that he really liked being at Chelsea but a month later he arrived at the City Ground as one of Nottingham Forest’s latest cohort of new signings.
Unfortunately, he managed just a single start in the Carabao Cup and one appearance off the bench in the league against Liverpool before being recalled.
Championship move makes the most sense for Santos
HITC understands that one of the most important aspects of Santos’s next move is playing time.
The 19-year-old has just 97 senior minutes under his belt in all competitions this season alongside an appearance for Brazil’s Under-23s in September against Morocco.
The central midfielder, who can play in a slightly deeper role, needs as many minutes as possible to adapt to English football and dropping down to the second tier might be the best solution.
He had previously been linked with a loan move to Newcastle, but despite their crippling injury crisis, it’s hard to see Chelsea strengthening a direct rival and Santos breaking into the side if he couldn’t earn any minutes at Nottingham Forest.
Trio of clubs keen on January move for Chelsea’s Santos amid other business
Among the teams interested in signing Santos on loan this month are West Bromwich Albion, Sunderland and Hull City.
The trio sit 5th, 6th and 7th in the Championship respectively and will want to make a couple of key additions this month to help boost their promotion chances.
HITC understands that the Black Cats are desperate to be reunited with Amad Diallo on loan and Manchester United are considering their options.
Hull are keeping an eye on attacking options during the window and we believe they have watched Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland recently.
Were Santos to make the switch to West Brom, he would be fighting for minutes with Alex Mowatt, John Swift and Okay Yokuslu, two experienced Championship operators and a senior Turkish international.
It’s hard to see him playing regularly at The Hawthorns for that reason, while at Hull he would be competing with the impressive Liverpool loanee Tyler Morton.
A move for Sunderland may represent the best opportunity for Santos to finally get some decent minutes under his belt.
They have a very young squad and with Pierre Ekwah linked with a move away this month, he could slot straight into the team at the Stadium of Light.
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