Chelsea to bring back loan star 'better than Juninho'

Stuart Telford

• 15 Oct 2023 10:11 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea are ready to recall Andrey Santos from his nightmare loan spell at Nottingham Forest in January, according to reports.

Santos is one of Brazil's brightest young prospects, and the 19-year-old has already made his full debut for the Selecao, lining up alongside Casemiro and Lucas Paqueta in a friendly defeat to Morocco in March.

The defensive midfield had joined Chelsea from Vasco da Gama for €12.5 million in January before finishing the season there as he awaited a UK work permit.

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Despite impressing in pre-season under Mauricio Pochettino, he was allowed to leave on a season-long loan to Forest this summer, and did so excitedly. "I want to enjoy it… I want to play a lot of matches," he said.

But Santos is yet to make a Premier League start, with Orel Mangala and Ibrahim Sangare - who joined on deadline day from PSV Eindhoven - preferred in central midfield, and the Blues are ready to pull the plug.

Another loan move ahead?

"Chelsea are now considering recalling the player from the City Ground in January," reports GiveMeSport's Dean Jones. "Sources at Chelsea insist that decision has not yet been made but there is potential for him to return and find a new loan side in the second half of this season if things do not improve."

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Chelsea have a number of talented young Brazilians on their books in Santos, Deivid Washington and Angelo Gabriel, the latter of whom is on loan at the Blues' sister club Strasbourg this season.

Brazil great Juninho would seem to rate Santos as the most promising, describing him in glowing terms last year.

"It's hard to find an 18-year-old that smart," he told Resenha Loading at the time. "Physically he is a monster. Technically, he's far above the other players.

"He's going to be much better than me. He is a much more complete player. At 18 years old I didn't play half of what he plays, I have no problem admitting it."