19-year-old Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos has joined Nottingham Forest on a season-long loan today.
The 2004-born midfielder is a product of the Vasco da Gama academy over in Brazil, where he made 37 appearances and score 8 goals in league action in South America.
He joined The Blues in January of this year in the midst of a miserable season for Chelsea, before heading back to Vasco for the remainder of the season from March.
After largely impressing throughout pre-season, he was set to be given a role at Stamford Bridge for the coming campaign, but the signings of Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo saw them seek loan destinations for their teenage starlet.
Plenty of offers came in, but, in news broken by The Times late last night, it's the City Ground that Santos will call home for the 23/24 season, joining a midfield regiment containing the likes of Orel Mangala, Danilo, Ryan Yates and Cheikhou Kouyate. And Jonj- never mind.
With his medical taking place today with the potential, pending a registration to the squad before 12 today, to feature in the squad against Manchester United tomorrow, I've taken a look at the Brazilian midfielder to see what he can offer at Forest this season.
Santos' skills
The number one thing to look out for in Santos is his assurance on the ball. Calmness and composure are the two big qualities that he possesses in bulk for such a young age. In his unofficial debut in pre-season against Wrexham, he offered a decisive directness to proceedings when given the freedom and time to pick his options, and impressed with a wide range of passing.
Far more than a Freuler-style sideways dictator-type, it would seem, is Santos. The key thing to pick up on, notably most from his showing against Brighton, was the willingness to bring the ball forward smoothly and directly.
Through his friendly showings, he was an important cog in taking the ball out of the defence and providing a vital link between the defence and the attack, picking out key passes assertively and whilst displaying a total calmness under pressure.
When challenged, he remained in showing that same calmness on the ball, preserving his still manner in tight spaces, but also working relentlessly in a high press whenever Chelsea were without the ball.
Attributes such as these look set to fit Steve Cooper's system at Nottingham Forest well. Slow-beating pacemaker-type midfielders like Freuler and Jonjo Shelvey weren't working last season, and a change to the high-octane possession magnets Orel Mangala and Danilo sparked a vital change in energy in the centre of the park for Forest in their successful battle for survival in the Premier League.
For his age, another deeply impressive thing to notice about Santos is his footballing IQ.
He boasts a deep box of tricks when it comes to his passing and use of movement, but his application and decision-making in lieu of that makes him a fantastic prospect.
Nottingham Forest, typically, are a side who do not tend to see the vast majority of the ball in their matches. Quality on it, therefore, will be vital as Cooper's side look to turn defence into attack at a moments notice.
With Mangala's creativity and Danilo's pace and power, Santos could provide a vital link between the two in order to enable a dynamic midfield cocktail that best suits The Reds quick, breathless style.
Santos looks like a boy with the right tools, and he comes highly rated by many who have followed him. We won't know how it'll truly go until a ball is kicked, but early signs certainly lead towards Nottingham Forest securing a fantastic temporary talent.
