Andrey Santos: Returning Chelsea loanee aims to be 'undisputed starter' after Club World Cup

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Evening Standard

·4 juin 2025

Andrey Santos: Returning Chelsea loanee aims to be 'undisputed starter' after Club World Cup

Santos is yet to make a competitive first-team appearance two years after moving to West London

Andrey Santos has committed his future to Chelsea ahead of the Club World Cup, saying he and his teammates want to become world champions.

The Brazilian’s future remains in doubt as he returns from a season-long loan at BlueCo sister club Strasbourg, where he donned the captain’s armband after hitting 11 goals and five assists in 34 appearances. He is yet to make a competitive appearance for Chelsea.

Santos had been tipped by many to play a key role at Stamford Bridge next season, but faces competition for minutes from first-team stalwarts Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, and Enzo Fernandez.

Vidéos OneFootball

Santos could quickly rise through the pecking order should the injury-prone Lavia be sidelined again, and will have the chance to impress at the Club World Cup later this month. In an interview with Diario AS, he confirmed that his intention was to fight for his place.

"I want to play,” he said. “I want to have minutes to be able to earn my place in the World Cup.

“I want to consolidate myself in Chelsea, I want to play regularly and be an undisputed starter, win titles with this shirt.

"In principle, I stay at Chelsea.

"I spoke with Romeo [Lavia] and Moi[ses Caicedo]. I'm anxious to get to Chelsea. When we talk about Chelsea, it is a matter of winning and fighting for all competitions. With the Club World Cup, it will not be different. We want to be the champions."

Santos has already served three loan spells since joining Chelsea in 2023, spending time with Vasco da Gama and Nottingham Forest before spending last season at Strasbourg, and could be sent away again should he fail to impress at the Club World Cup.

Speaking this week, though, Santos told the Daily Mail that his aim was to remain with Chelsea: “Everyone knows about my love, my desire to play for Chelsea. Enzo Maresca was very sincere with me. I went to Strasbourg to get minutes. Now we’ll see how it goes at the Club World Cup.”

In May, Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly said the club was excited by his potential, hinting that he could be set for a consistent first-team berth.

Quizzed on Chelsea’s summer prospects, the American said: “Andrey Santos is coming from Strasbourg [for the Club World Cup]. We’re really excited about him and what we think he can add to the squad.”

He added that Santos could be in for more minutes as Chelsea look to limit the toll of a growing fixture list.

“The challenge that we really have is how many matches these guys are playing. The calendar is really tight, they put in so much effort and energy and the injuries are continuing to go up and up and up. Obviously, they’re built to play football, they love playing football, so we’re trying to find the balance of what’s the right amount of football.”