Chelsea's Andrey Santos following in Neymar and Julian Alvarez's footsteps

James Shearman

• Updated: 26 Jan 2023 17:50 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea signing Andrey Santos is impressing on international duty at the South American Youth Football Championship.

Santos has helped Brazil's under-20 team to seven points from three games in the group stage.

The captain scored in wins over Peru (3-0) and Argentina (3-1), as well as the 1-1 draw with Colombia yesterday.

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As it stands, the 18-year-old's three goals make him the top scorer in the competition, something Neymar achieved in his youth.

Meanwhile, Manchester City star Julian Alvarez previously won the competition's best player award before going on to help Argentina's senior team win the World Cup last month.

Chelsea fans are keeping tabs on Santos' performances at the tournament, even calling for him to be a part of Graham Potter's plans in the second half of the season.

Who is Andrey Santos?

Santos is primarily a defensive midfielder, lining up alongside Yuri Lara in a double pivot for former club Vasco da Gama, with ex-PSG star Nene as the 'number 10'.

But the youngster is capable of playing in a more advanced role, proven by his three goals in the ongoing South American Youth Football Championship. Santos also scored eight time in 33 league games in 2022.

"Physically, he's a monster," Juninho - a Vasco and Lyon club legend - told Resenha Loading on YouTube. "Without the ball, his participation in the game is total. I wanted to see his GPS, because he doesn't stop! And technically, he's way above the others.

"He's not going to be better than me, he's going to be much better than me! He's a much more complete player. At 18, I didn't play half as much as he does, I'm not ashamed to say that."