Financially, Chelsea’s decision to sell Andrey Santos to Manchester United is a good one.
Chelsea are selling Santos to United for £50m after paying Brazilian outfit Vasco da Gama just £18m for his signature back in 2023.
Chelsea supporters do not care about things like profit, though, while the club’s players would much prefer to have Santos on the pitch.
The 22-year-old is not a £100m midfielder like Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez and was not an automatic starter last season. However, when Santos did play, he did a job.
Santos is one of Chelsea’s most-underrated players 🧩
Man United and Newcastle are interested.
Santos was always neat and tidy in possession, and defensively he really did his part. For example, according to Scout Lab, the Brazilian made 3.75 tackles and interceptions per 90 minutes. It puts him in the 92nd percentile among midfielders in Europe.
Fernandez is a world-class midfielder, but in the pivot alongside Caicedo, Chelsea can be defensively vulnerable at times, especially against the top sides. It is one reason why Enzo Maresca used to push Fernandez further forward and start Romeo Lavia next to Caicedo in the big games.
Considering all of that, Chelsea’s backline will miss Santos, who really had to step up in Lavia’s absence last term as the Belgian struggled with more injury problems.
Santos’ doubters will highlight Chelsea’s defence was still leaky. In total, the Blues conceded 52 goals in 38 Premier League matches, which is too many for a team who were meant to be competing for a Champions League spot.
However, that probably says more about Chelsea’s centre-backs than Santos. It is an area the club are trying to strengthen amid interest in Crystal Palace’s Maxence Lacroix.
Xabi Alonso is an admirer of Lacroix, who should improve Chelsea’s backline if he does arrive at Stamford Bridge this summer. It is a backline that will no longer have Santos in front of it, though, as he closes in on a move to United.
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