- 18 hours ago
Chelsea fans DELIGHTED after brilliant wonderkid debut
Cameron Smith
- 18 Feb 2024 13:45 CST
- 4 min read
Andrey Santos’ debut for Strasbourg has left Chelsea fans extremely excited, despite the fact he only made a brief cameo off the bench.
The 19-year-old endured a torrid loan spell at Nottingham Forest during the first-half of the season before being recalled by the Blues in January.
Santos played just 97 minutes of action for Forest, and was sent out on loan to Chelsea’s partner club Strasbourg during the January transfer window.
He joined fellow Brazilian wonderkid and Chelsea star Angelo Gabriel at the Ligue 1 side, and Santos was handed his debut against Lorient on Sunday.
The Brazilian started the game on the bench and was only introduced for the final 10 minutes, but he impressed onlookers, most notably Chelsea fans.
During his brief period on the pitch, Santos completed 92% of his attempted passes and one dribble (100% success rate), with Chelsea fans encouraged by his debut for the club.
What have Chelsea fans said?
Came on too late to help avoid the 3-1 loss, but man did Strasbourg’s midfield look so much better for the last 10min after Andrey Santos came on.
Tempo setting, line breaking passes, switching, carrying. Control.
23/25 accurate passes, 1/1 successful dribble, 1/1 duels won. pic.twitter.com/BHZYkN6zGc— The Elastico🇧🇷CFCscout (@the_elastico) February 18, 2024
Andrey Santos has been so tidy man
— Fredrick (@RickyxLaw) February 18, 2024
Andrey Santos’ 10min debut for Strasbourg.
Calm, composed, tempo setting in midfield. Instantly making the Strasbourg midfield look way better. Something they’ve desperately needed.
🎥: @CFCIbi
pic.twitter.com/pk4vA5qFV6— The Elastico🇧🇷CFCscout (@the_elastico) February 18, 2024
Andrey Santos’ debut for Strasbourg 🇧🇷🔵 [12 minutes]
(With a little bit of ngelo magic in there too 🪄)
pic.twitter.com/LBGhDZftPi— Chelsea Loan Army (@ChelseaIoanArmy) February 18, 2024
What has Patrick Vieira said about Andrey Santos?
After the game, Strasbourg manager Patrick Vieira was quick to outline how Santos will help his side for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
“He can help us a lot with vision, quality, his passing is very good and he can find players between the lines,” he said.
Santos caught the eye during Chelsea’s pre-season tour of the USA, with his press resistance extremely impressive for someone of his age. The failed loan spell at Nottingham Forest was a huge disappointment, but Blues fans will be hopeful that things will improve at Strasbourg with a view to him becoming a first-team player next season.
The Brazil U23 captain has a contract at Chelsea that runs until 2030, while his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) stands at just €2 million, partly due to the lack of action he has seen over the past six months.
