Chelsea’s recent transfer policy has seemed strange to many in the football world. It has been compared to a Major League Baseball team stocking up their minor league teams with prospects by buying as many teenagers as possible.
The Blues have spent millions of pounds on unproven talents from football hotbeds like Brazil and Portugal but have also try to unearth some hidden gems from places like Kazakhstan. One player that is ready to make the switch from prospect to star is Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos.
Santos has been lighting it up in France with Strasbourg and has been one of the best players in Ligue 1, scoring 9 goals in 25 matches and earning a 7.74 rating from FotMob. The defensive midfielder has helped his loan club compete for a Champions League place, which could create a administrative headache for Chelsea, and has raised his value exponentially.
Santos's play has attracted the attention of European giants like Bayern Munich and AC Milan and there has been talk of Chelsea cashing in on the youngster by selling him for triple what they paid in 2023. We hope that this is just rumor mongering because selling Santos would set the Chelsea youth project back for many years.
The whole point of this new transfer policy is to increase the odds of finding truly world class players before they hit that stage. The Blues have done it successfully with Cole Palmer who they purchased for a bargain of £40 million and a case could be made for Djordje Petrovic joining that tier as well.
If Palmer was on the market today he would be worth well over £100 million which is almost triple his fee to Chelsea. Santos would be in that same stratosphere as the Blues paid around £18 million for him and his value according to Transfermarkt is already double that.
It is not hyperbole to suggest that Santos is on a world class trajectory and that he could be one of the first names on the Chelsea team sheet as early as the Club World Cup. He fills an immediate need in the squad which frees up Enzo Fernandez to attack more and takes some of the defensive weight off Moises Caicedo.
If he was already wearing Chelsea blue he would be an easy choice to deputize for Caicedo who has been an ironman for the Blues this season. He would also have played a major role in cup competitions where Enzo Maresca had to depend on teenagers from the Academy during the busy holiday period.
We know that current Chelsea ownership has put a focus on fiscal responsibility and building a sustainable future for the club but at some point production on the field has to come before profit. Santos is a player that can help the club compete for trophies immediately and no amount of transfer profit can replace that feeling that winning brings to your supporters.
Clearlake and BlueCo desperately need a “win” with the fans and having Andrey Santos succeed at Stamford Bridge is a great way to show that their project isn’t just Football Manager in real life. It’s about winning and while it may seem unconventional in the football world, Santos’s success could prove that this path does indeed work.
No matter who comes calling and how much they offer, Chelsea need to hold on to this hidden gem they uncovered from Brazil and do everything they can to make sure he succeeds.