‘Disappointed’ Chelsea ‘set to recall’ £18m teen as they prepare to ‘break arrangement’ with Prem rival

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·29 November 2023

‘Disappointed’ Chelsea ‘set to recall’ £18m teen as they prepare to ‘break arrangement’ with Prem rival

Nottingham Forest loanee Andrey Santos.

According to reports, Chelsea are planning to ‘recall’ midfielder Andrey Santos from Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest in January.

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Chelsea are unsurprisingly top of the 2023 Premier League net spend table as owner Todd Boehly has invested over £1bn since his takeover was completed ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

Around £18m was spent to sign Santos from Brazilian outfit Vasco da Gama during this year’s winter transfer window.

Santos impressed for Chelsea during pre-season but he was sent out on loan to Premier League rivals Nottm Forest in the summer.

The 19-year-old is out of favour at Forest as he has only been on the pitch for seven minutes in the Premier League and has made two appearances overall across all competitions.

The Standard’s Nizaar Kinsella has now revealed that ‘Santos is expected to be recalled by Chelsea from his Nottingham Forest loan spell in January, but regulations will limit his next move’. The report explains.

‘Chelsea rate the 19-year-old midfielder highly and are disappointed he has played just seven minutes in the Premier League since moving to Forest, with his solitary start coming in the Carabao Cup. ‘The Blues can break the loan arrangement should Santos fail to reach a certain number of appearances by January. ‘But the two clubs also have a friendly working relationship, having discussed a swap deal involving Brennan Johnson and Trevoh Chalobah in the summer, and would work for a mutually beneficial solution should he pass the threshold of appearances. ‘Santos could return to Chelsea despite huge midfield competition from Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Conor Gallagher, Romeo Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu. ‘New FIFA regulations state clubs can only have seven players out overseas loans at one time and Chelsea have reached that number, limiting Santos’s loan move options to within English football. ‘Porto are one club known to be interested in the one-cap Brazil international, but it is unclear whether there is currently any Premier League interest.’

This report has since been backed up by journalist Ben Jacobs, who claims “Forest are also happy to end the loan”.

Chelsea are set to recall Andrey Santos from his loan spell at Nottingham Forest in January, as @NizaarKinsella first called. It’s understood #NFFC haven’t yet been informed, but #CFC want Santos to play more minutes. Deal does have a break clause,” Jacobs tweeted.

“Santos could be loaned again, including to sister-club Strasbourg, but Chelsea would first need to end one of their international loans. No decision made yet on what’s next.

“Understand Forest are also happy to end the loan as well. Well stocked in central midfield with other new signings, Ibrahim Sangare and Nicolas Dominguez, ahead of Santos in the pecking order.”