Chelsea and Arsenal on red alert as Michael Olise's transfer preference comes to light.
According to the Evening Standard, Chelsea are set to loan young midfielder Andrey Santos out to a Brazilian club should he fail to obtain a work permit now.
The 18-year-old, who is currently representing Brazil in the U-20 South American Championship, signed for Chelsea from Vasco da Gama for a deal worth around £18m in the January window.
After missing out on the initial work permit application by a point, the Blues are confident of getting it over the line this time after seeing him captain the Brazil U-20 side for the aforementioned competition.
As they prepare for the second submission to obtain the permit, the club is also aware that should it fail one more time, they can loan Santos out to a Brazilian club for the time being.
Clubs who are playing in the Copa Libertadores are in contention to sign the midfielder. Among them are Palmeiras, Internacional, Fluminense, Corinthians, Flamengo, Athletico Paranaense, Fortaleza and Atletico Mineiro.
Since the transfer window in Brazil runs until April, both Chelsea and the clubs there have time on their hands to formulate a possible loan deal.
Santos’ stock is very high though and he is promised first-team minutes at Stamford Bridge should his permit arrive soon. Graham Potter likes the player.
The 18-year-old is a central midfielder who can operate deeper in that department if required. He scored eight goals in 34 Serie B appearances for Vasco da Gama in the previous season.
The Brazil U-20 captain has excellent ball-playing skills – be it dribbling, finding key passes in the final third or being secure in possession. He is physically strong for a young guy and possesses good game-reading skills.
With so much technical quality, he would fit in nicely in the Potter system. We can only hope that the application for a work permit gets the desired result from our perspective.
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