It’s been nearly a month since Chelsea paid Vasco da Gama €12.5m to sign Andrey Santos, and the Blues haven’t got the player yet.
The midfielder travelled to London for medicals, signatures and photos, but soon returned to South America, where he’s playing in the U20 Championship for Brazil.
It turns out that Chelsea actually have good reason to be more excited about this signing, because the player has been doing great in the competition. Besides captaining the national team and leading their midfield, he has four goals in four appearances.
His form even caught attention from the Italian media, where Corriere Dello Sport feature a story about the youngster.
The outlet writes that the 18-year-old ‘is the leader’ of Brazil, as he ‘rules the game’ and ‘has the insertion times of a midfielder and an attacking midfielder’. The report calls him ‘one of the stars of the tournament’, which ends in a couple of weeks. They also call him Jorginho’s successor, following the midfielder’s recent departure to Arsenal.
Chelsea should only be concerned about Andrey Santos’ work permit.
Recent stories from the Brazilian press claimed that work is still trying to get him a visa to play for the club this season. Since he had few appearances for Vasco’s first team and most of them were in the second division, the Blues may use his performances for Brazil’s youth ranks as a way to convince the Football Association to grant him the chance of being registered now.
