10 months ago
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Chelsea are working on another loan deal for Andrey Santos with the teenager set to leave the club before Thursday’s transfer deadline, according to reports.
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The 19-year-old endured a frustrating six months at Nottingham Forest in which he only made one Premier League appearance, coming off the bench for a seven-minute cameo in a 3-0 defeat to Liverpool at the end of October.
With his game time restricted and his development hindered, Chelsea opted to make use of a break clause in the loan arrangement and recalled him at the start of the January window.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino had suggested he would assess Santos in training before deciding whether to loan him out again, but the return of another loanee – Cesare Casadei – has only reduced the Brazilian’s opportunities further.
As such, the Evening Standard are reporting that Chelsea have decided to loan out Santos for a second time and will ship him off to sister club Strasbourg.
The west Londoners have already sent winger Angelo Gabriel to the Ligue 1 side, with the teenager playing 18 times under Patrick Vieira.
Laurence Stewart, who is co-sporting director of Chelsea, also has a role in Strasbourg’s recruitment strategy and is keen for Santos to make the move to France.
Vieira has already given the move the green light and is happy to welcome Santos into his squad for the second half of the season, though he also wants another winger too.
There had been suggestions that Chelsea felt Santos was capable of playing at a higher level, but, with few suitable offers forthcoming, he now looks set to end up at Strasbourg.
Asked about his plans for the Brazilian when he first returned from Forest, Pochettino said earlier this month: ‘We need to sit together in an official meeting.
‘We are always, every single day talking and assessing the squad. Now the market is open and yes, I think we have some players that we own like Andrey Santos that has come back from Nottingham Forest; players that we need to take some decisions.
‘But I am happy with the squad I have. We are focused on the recovery for the players as soon as possible.
‘But at the moment, we are assessing the things, we have seen the squad and seen some possibility of what we can do or not. But at the moment, we have not taken any decision.’
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