Chelsea midfielder to return on loan to ex-club for next three months

Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos to return to Vasco da Gama on a three-month loan

According to Evening Standard, Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos is set to return to Vasco da Gama on loan for the next three months.

The Brazil U-20 international will play up to nine games in the Brazilian first division before joining the U-20 national team squad for the World Cup in May.

Chelsea signed Santos for a fee of around £17.5m from Vasco at the beginning of the January window. He then moved to Colombia to lead Brazil in the U-20 South American Championships. The 18-year-old was the joint-scorer in the tournament as the Selecao lifted the trophy.

Santos’ UK work permit was denied by a point. Hence, he cannot play for the Blues until the club makes a new application. They are sending him back to Vasco on loan before getting him for the pre-season ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.

Smart move

Chelsea believe that the midfielder playing up to nine games in the Brazilian top flight would be beneficial in their next attempt to acquire a UK work permit. Moreover, since this loan move is a short one, they can register him in their squad for the 2023/24 season.

This seems like a good plan to work your way around a tricky situation. It would have been tough for the player to sit back and not play much due to the work permit issues. Instead, he can now play a few games for his former club and get in rhythm to play the U-20 World Cup before hopefully completing the paperwork to come to Chelsea in the summer.

Santos has the quality and midfield versatility to be an excellent addition to the Blues’ senior squad. He is an excellent operator between the lines and can play the box-to-box role as well.

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Having captained the Brazil U-20 side to a tournament win last month, he is maturing at a very young age. Next summer, he would be like a new signing all over again for us. Let’s just hope his experience in South America until then turns out to be a pleasant one.