Strasbourg Chelsea branch? Anyway, it looks like it. After the takeover of Racing by the BlueCo consortium in June, president Marc Keller reaffirmed his intention to preserve the heritage of the club, without transforming itself into a simple “subsidiary” of Chelsea. However, after the arrival of young Angelo Gabriel (19 years old) this summer, another Brazilian playing for the Blues could experience the same fate.
In the month of December, The Evening Standard had already set the tone by indicating that Chelsea wanted to lend their best players under the age of 23 to Strasbourg, a way of allowing them to cut their teeth before making the big leap to the Premier League. In this sense, several names had filtered like that of Claudio Echeverri, once mentioned to join the Blues (he finally signed for Manchester City). Obviously, this will not be the case for the Argentinian, but probably for his Brazilian counterpart Andrey Santos.
Discussions underway for Andrey Santos
Recruited from Vasco da Gama last winter for around 12.5 million euros, Andrey Santos distinguished himself during the South American U17 Championship with the Seleção. Captain, he had impressed and was even called up to the A a few weeks later. To facilitate his development, Chelsea loaned him to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League this summer, where the 19-year-old midfielder ultimately only played one league match.
Eager to offer him a new opportunity, Chelsea then recalled him in January and are now pulling the strings to place their player with their new partner Strasbourg. As reported by the Standard this Wednesday, the London club is currently holding discussions with its French counterpart for a loan until the end of the season. Currently at a pre-Olympic tournament with his selection (Brazil will play its last qualifying match against Venezuela on Friday), Santos could experience a lively end to the transfer window.
