Chelsea teenager Andrey Santos struggles for minutes while on loan at Nottingham Forest
Chelsea’s decision to loan teenager Andrey Santos to Nottingham Forest has backfired as the midfielder continues to lack playing time under Forest manager Steve Cooper. Fabrizio Romano via X, confirmed that the player was not in the squad to face Manchester City on Saturday.
The 19-year-old Brazilian joined Forest on loan from Chelsea in August to gain vital first-team experience. However, Santos is yet to make his Premier League debut for the club according to football.london.
He was left out of the squad altogether for today’s 2-0 loss against Manchester City. Despite Cooper making five changes, Santos’ continued omission exposes problems with Chelsea allowing one of their top prospects to join Forest.
Santos is losing valuable development time
Santos was expected to be an important piece in Forest boss Cooper’s plans as he is renowned for working with emerging young talents. But he has largely ignored the youngster after handing him just one League Cup appearance against Burnley.
Chelsea likely hoped the 19-year-old Santos would play regularly in the first team to aid his development, like fellow loanee Lewis Hall at Newcastle. Instead, his progress has stalled completely at Forest. If Santos cannot get opportunities at a less popular side like Forest, questions will be asked about why Chelsea loaned him there. His lack of action is wasting crucial development time.
Further, many fans will argue that it might have been better to keep the Brazilian at Stamford Bridge where he would have undoubtedly picked up first-team experience since an unprecedented 12 first-team players are currently sidelined due to injury.
🌳 Andrey Santos not even included in Nottingham Forest squad today.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 23, 2023
He’s on loan to #NFFC from Chelsea. pic.twitter.com/G8PIUX9M89
Going forward, Chelsea must be more selective with loan destinations to ensure youngsters actually play. Santos’ situation shows the risks of farming out prospects to overcrowded teams like Forest. Chelsea had signed the 19-year-old this January from the Brazilian club Vasco da Gama for £18m. However, the Blues loaned him back until the end of the 2022/23 season due to him failing to receive a work permit.
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Without a defined role, gifted young players like Santos can quickly stagnate. Chelsea must learn from this loan misstep and protect other rising talents from similar fates.