On Tuesday, we relayed news from Italy that Salernitana have identified Chelsea’s Andrey Santos as the main target to bolster their midfield.
The Serie A side are keen to sign the 19-year-old and this has been confirmed by their sporting director, Morgan De Sanctis.
“We are interested in Andrey Santos, Chelsea have made an important investment and have decided that he will be part of the first team. At the moment it is unlikely that he will arrive,” he said, as quoted by TuttoMercatoWeb.
The Blues signed the midfielder from Vasco da Gama in January and allowed him to return to his former club on loan from March until June. He’s now part of Mauricio Pochettino’s squad for pre-season.
Even though De Sanctis admitted a deal would be “unlikely at the moment”, the Serie A side still maintain hope of taking the Brazil international on loan.
It’s claimed Chelsea are ‘concretely evaluating’ the possibility to send the youngster out on loan after they completed Lesley Ugochukwu’s signing yesterday.
Santos earns €1.4m net per year and this won’t make easy for the Italian club to sign him. Despite this, TWM say Chelsea and Salernitana are ‘discussing’ the possibility of a dry loan deal for Santos.