Recently crowned La Liga champions FC Barcelona are keeping a watchful eye on promising Chelsea star Andrey Santos, just 19 years old, who is currently on loan at Nottingham Forest.
According to reports from SPORT, Barcelona have set their interest in Andrey Santos as part of their search for a young midfielder. The 19-year-old Brazilian midfielder has become a feasible target for the Blaugrana.
FC Barcelona, pending the situation of a new Brazilian pearl
Andrey Santos spent much of his development at Vasco da Gama, where he rose through the senior ranks before making the leap to European football. This young Brazilian prodigy has emerged as one of the most promising prospects of his generation, attracting the attention of several big-name clubs over the last year.
Even teams of the stature of Barcelona and Real Madrid showed interest in acquiring his services last year. However, it was Chelsea who secured his services in January. However, Andrey Santos spent the first six months of 2023 in Vasco da Gama while awaiting confirmation of his work permit.
Finally, last summer he received the green light to play in the United Kingdom and completed a solid pre-season with Chelsea. However, due to the multiple signings made by the London club during the summer transfer market, it was considered that a loan would be the best option for his development, which led to his loan to Nottingham Forest.
So far, Santos has yet to make his Premier League debut for Nottingham Forest and his involvement has been limited to appearances in the EFL Cup. This fact has led Chelsea to closely monitor his development, but Barcelona have also kept a close eye on his performance as they look to strengthen their midfield with a younger defensive midfielder.
Barcelona made two acquisitions in the midfield position during the summer transfer window, with the arrivals of Oriol Romeu and Ilkay Gundogan. However, both players are over 30 years old, which raises the need for a more long-term option. In this context, Andrey Santos is emerging as a viable target, although Chelsea could resist any offer due to the high value they place on this talented 19-year-old midfielder. The Andrey Santos saga will undoubtedly be one of the topics to follow as clubs evaluate their options in the transfer market.
