Mauricio Pochettino makes plan for Brazilian wonderkid
According to 90min, Andrey Santos will return to Chelsea this summer with a view to breaking into Mauricio Pochettino’s first team next season.
The 19-year-old joined the Blues from Vasco de Gama in January but returned to the club on loan after failing to qualify for a work permit in England.
But Santos’ appearances for Brazil at the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina, in addition to making his senior international debut, means he now eligible for a work permit and sources have confirmed to 90min that Chelsea intend to bring him back to the club this summer.
A recent change in the guidelines for earning a work permit meant that Santos was likely to return to Chelsea anyway, but the intention is not for him to return to Stamford Bridge just to make up the numbers.
The teenager will instead be given a chance to prove himself under the management of new head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who was named as the permanent successor to Graham Potter at the end of May.
Pochettino is tasked with resurrecting Chelsea’s fortunes after a desperately disappointing first season of the Todd Boehly-led Clearlake Capital era. The Blues finished 12th in the Premier League, losing 16 of their 38 games, and scored just 38 goals to finish with a negative goal difference of nine.