Chelsea, by signing Andrey Santos from Vasco de Gama when they did, appear to have secured themselves a real gem.
Whether they can use him straight away remains to be seen, but there are many in Spain and across the globe getting excited about the young midfielder, with AS labeling him the ‘new Casemiro’, referring to the player Manchester United signed this summer.
They do so in an article looking at all the players who stood out during the U20 CONMEBOL Championship, recently won by Brazil courtesy of goals scored by the Chelsea January signing and Pedrinho in a 2-0 final against Uruguay.
Speaking of the midfielder, they point out that he was a star from the beginning of the tournament to the very end of it, ‘dominating the matches in an authoritative manner and almost always scoring’.
AS explain that Santos’ performances reminded many at times of ‘Casemiro’s displays in 2011’, and Chelsea ‘knew very well what they were signing’ when they decided to go for Andrey Santos.
In search of a new midfielder in the summer, Manchester United did their best to try and sign Frenkie de Jong, only to be met by a reluctant Dutchman.
That’s why, in the end, they lumped money on Casemiro, reuniting him with Raphaël Varane at Old Trafford for €70.6m.
There’s no doubt they could have signed Santos for cheaper, and they may be kicking themselves at that, but he certainly doesn’t bring the experience the 30-year-old does.
As for Chelsea, there is a certain element of gamble there, but with Todd Boehly backing them on the transfer market, they appear to be happy to do so, planning for the long-term as well as the short-term.
