Pochettino believes Chelsea are 'building something'
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly preparing to recall Andrey Santos in the January transfer window. Midfielder Santos was sent on loan to Nottingham Forest to gain Premier League experience but has not made his top-flight debut for the club.
The Blues signed Santos from Vasco da Gama last January and he spent the remainder of the previous campaign on loan with the Brazilian club. He then impressed in pre-season under Pochettino.
But Chelsea believed that his development would be better served on loan. He was sent to Forest for the 2023-24 campaign.
Santos has struggled to get into Forest’s team, though, with boss Steve Cooper instead preferring a raft of permanent signings in the middle of the pitch. The Midlands outfit signed Ibrahim Sangare and Nicolas Dominguez in the final days of the summer window.
It has left Santos fighting for his place in Forest’s matchday squads. The 19-year-old’s only appearance so far this season was in the Carabao Cup clash with Burnley, in which he played the full 90 minutes.
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According to Give Me Sport, Chelsea will ‘hold discussions’ over recalling Santos in January. The player has failed to even make the substitutes’ bench on three occasions since his switch to Forest, appearing as an unused sub three times.
Santos could either be kept at Chelsea under Pochettino, who has already shown a willingness to use young players. However, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Conor Gallagher have all been in good form in recent weeks.
Romeo Lavia is expected to have returned from injury by January, meaning Santos would find himself even further down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea may decide to pursue another loan, which they can do as he has only played for one club this term. FIFA rules state that players cannot turn out for more than two teams in a single campaign.
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Forest boss Steve Cooper insists Santos will get his chance. “He’s been good. He’s obviously a really good young player,” Cooper said last weekend.
‘“I had a really good chat with Chelsea [about him] this week. I didn’t realise some stuff had been written about him. There’s a lot of new players here and we’re really trying to get the balance right in integrating all the players at the right time, while trying to perform as best we can in every single game to get the results we want.
“That’s a real process. With young players, sometimes it can take longer than others to settle in. I’m not saying he’s not, it’s just circumstantial at the moment in some of the games.”
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