Chelsea picked up an easy win against ES Tunis in their final group match of the Club World Cup. The Blues are now through to the Round of 16, where they will face Benfica. This game also marked the debut of highly-rated Andrey Santos, who came off the bench and provided the assist for Tyrique George's goal.
Santos spent last season on loan at Strasbourg and impressed with his performances, scoring 11 goals and providing five assists. His performances have caught the eye of several clubs who were interested in signing the player.
However, for now, Chelsea have promoted him to the first-team and plan to integrate him further into the squad moving forward. Santos, who was benched for the first two games of the competition, came on in the second half of the match against ES Tunis.
Although the Brazilian midfielder registered his first assist for the club on his debut, fans had mixed reactions to his performance. Let's take a look at some of those.
'Terrible' - Chelsea fans react to Andrey Santos' debut for the Blues
It is safe to say that Santos left many disappointed. One Chelsea fan said: "Nice to see Andrey Santos make his debut. That was a terrible performance though."
It is safe to say that Santos has a lot to work on. One wrote: "You could make a fail comp out of this Andrey Santos performance."
Some were more positive and looked at the bigger picture. One user wrote: "To be fair, sometimes he looked like a bit shaky and unaware of where he’s standing, but I think giving him more minutes in pre-season friendlies will be crucial to his development, remember he’s young!"
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was recently criticised by some fans for his decision not to give the youngster any playing time prior to this match. However, Santos' latest performance has shown that while he is talented, he is still young and needs some time to ease into the squad and figure out his role.
That said, it’s no easy feat to register an assist on your debut for a club like Chelsea, and Santos has just done that. The Blues already have one of the most talented midfields in the world, with players like Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, Romeo Lavia, and Moises Caicedo at their disposal.
So, Santos might have to be a little patient to succeed at the club. At the same time, he should always be ready to seize any opportunities that come his way.