As they continue to invest in the future, Chelsea has completed the £18 million signing of midfielder Andrey Santos from Vasco Da Gama.
The 18-year-old wonderkid has drawn interest from a number of top clubs, including Manchester City and Newcastle, but the Blues have won the race, according to his Brazilian club.
As they’ve already signed Molde starlet David Datro Fofana and Benoit Badiashile this month, his signing carries on the idea of investing in the team’s future under Todd Boehly’s new ownership.
Santos joins Fofana and Badiashile as Graham Potter’s team adds one more player to its roster after the first week of the January transfer window.
Santos, who is only 18 years old, has already earned Brazil’s U20 cap and is thought to be one of the most talented midfielders in the world.
In his 38 appearances with Vasco Da Gama in Brazil’s second division, he has so far netted eight goals.
On their club website, his Brazilian club announced his £18 million transfer to Stamford Bridge
In a statement posted to the team’s website, Vasco stated:
‘Vasco da Gama agreed this Friday (01/06) the permanent transfer of the athlete Andrey Santos to European football.
‘Born in the youth ranks of Gigante da Colina, the midfielder will defend the colours of Chelsea, from England, in the coming seasons.
‘The youngster will end his first spell at the club from Sao Januario at the age of 18 with 38 appearances and eight goals.
‘In Sao Januario since 2011, Andrey Santos started his career in futsal and it didn’t take long to become the main reference of the 2004 Generation.
‘In 2021, after debuting in a Carioca Championship match, Andrey Santos became the youngest player to ever play for Vasco da Gama in the 21st Century, leaving behind names like Talles Magno, Paulinho and Philippe Coutinho.
‘The definitive promotion of Andrey Santos to the professional ranks, however, only happened last season, during the dispute of the Brazilian Championship.’
After a fruitful start to the January transfer window, Chelsea manager Potter will be eager to bring in more young talent. He already signed Badiashile and Fofana while bringing in talents like Carney Chukwuemeka earlier this year.
Following his impressive performances with Ecuador at the World Cup, the former Brighton manager is reportedly also pursuing his former club for midfielder Moises Caicedo. However, he will also need to fend off interest from Liverpool.
The Blues are also interested in signing Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid and Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakthar Donestk.
When his team was previously linked to so many players, Boss Potter answered as follows:
‘We will try in every window to improve, but January is a complicated one because it’s the middle of the season.
‘And in the meantime, we have to deal with all the noise of Chelsea getting linked with everybody and I don’t comment on any player that isn’t a Chelsea player.
‘As always, and it’s a boring answer, but my job is to help the players that are here and support the club in terms of decisions they make in terms of how to improve.’
Chelsea are expected to invest heavily in the transfer market with an injury crisis at the club, let alone their miserable start to the season, which sees them sitting 10th in the Premier League after 17 matches.
