It's a coup. There's no doubt about it. This swoop of Chelsea's. Managing to burn off all rivals. Clinching an agreement with Vasco da Gama for Andrey Santos is a genuine transfer coup.
As much as in Europe, in Brazil they didn't see this coming. If Santos was leaving Vasco over the New Year, it would be to moneybags Newcastle United. Steve Nickson, the Magpies' chief scout, had been working on this deal for much of the year. Nickson had made personal trips to check on Santos, both in U20 action and also as the 18 year-old broke into Ze Ricardo's first team last season. He had made contact with Santos' management team. And armed with the "unlimited resources" of Newcastle's new Saudi backers, it was a fait accompli in Brazil that Santos would be joining Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes.
And this was even in the face of competition from Barcelona. Jordi Cruyff and Mateo Alemany, the brainstrust at Barca, had been recommended Santos by their Brazilian scouts after sending out word that a replacement for Sergi Busquets needed to be found. But after testing the ground, the prospect of competing in an auction with Newcastle saw Barca make a hasty retreat.
Which makes Chelsea's intervention all the more impressive. How they did it. Who was responsible. We're sure to get news of that in the coming weeks. But as we say, this deal is a coup. A real coup.
"The whole world wants Andrey," declared Vasco's sporting director Paulo Bracks before Chelsea's offer was accepted, "but he is from Vasco, he has a contract with us, a strong contract, he must go to the South American U-20 (championships), and I have no way of guaranteeing what will happen to him after that. I would very much like him to stay with us this year in this project of ours in Serie A, but he is an athlete who, on the market shelf, is being highly targeted."
That was Bracks in the first week of December. And in terms of that "strong contract", in the end, Vasco really didn't have a choice but to agree to selling Santos for January's market. It cannot be underestimated how local contract law played - again - into the hands of European suitors when it came to Vasco's teen.
Santos first signed pro as a 16 year-old in August 2020. But Vasco was limited to tying him to only a three-year deal. In a matter of months, Santos was breaking into Vasco's seniors. His minders were being swamped by enquiries from across Europe. And Vasco, effectively, were shut out of any chance of extending Santos' deal after turning 18 in May. Being free to sign a pre-contract from February, Vasco had no other option but to negotiate their midfielder's sale.
For their part, Vasco's new owners, 777, have suffered a fans and media backlash. Pundits have dubbed the €12.5m deal "charity". Edmundo, who played four times for Vasco over different stages of his career, laments Santos' sale.
"The ideal was for him to remain," said O Animal, "but there are interests of the athlete, the agent, and we do not know the agreements that were made in the renewal. It is not what we expected because the biggest thing would be Andrey staying, but we do not know what the player's interests are, being sold to a club in England, earning a salary, having goals, all of this is an athlete's dream.
"We cannot say if the value is little, good, a lot. The big problem is that you lose your best player. It is a technical problem. With that money you don't go to the market and hire a Neymar. You don't make a team. It is just money to pay the expenses they will have in 2023. I am concerned with setting up the team, which is the most important, he is a pillar, but no one is irreplaceable, players pass by and the institution stays. That's what needs to be strong. But I'm not happy."
A "pillar", as Edmundo describes Santos. Achieved at 18 years of age. And with barely 18 months of senior football under his belt. But that's what convinced Chelsea to step in during December. Though they didn't pull the trigger until consulting former Vasco and Brazil star Juninho Pernambucano. Again, with Chelsea's front office in so much flux, we don't know who was driving this deal. But it's safe to say Juninho, when approached, gave Santos as a glowing a recommendation as any Chelsea have received.
“I've never seen a player, at 18 years of age, as ready as he is," the former Lyon sports director recently said of Santos. "Physically, he's a beast, and technically he's on a much higher level than the other players [on the pitch]. He's not going to be better than me, he's going to be much better than me. At 18 years old I played at half his level, and I'm not even embarrassed to admit it."
That was Juninho discussing Santos' abilities on the pitch. Away from matchday. On how the midfielder will cope with the demands and culture inside Cobham. Juninho, we can say, would've been just as effusive,
"He has been raised really well," he continued. "He's grounded. When he loses the ball, he behaves correctly. When he's fouled, he behaves correctly. All of these are signs that he's a kid who's conscious of reality.
“It's going to be really sad to lose a player of this level."
And that's the reality for Vasco. Restricted by local contract law, as soon as Santos confirmed with the seniors the potential he showed in the U20s, Vasco's board never had a chance. €12.5m with barely six months on his contract still represents good business. Particularly as Santos will leave as the club's third richest sale.
But in terms of Chelsea and the Premier League, this money is chump change. Especially given what they think of Andrey Santos inside the Brazilian game. For Chelsea this is a coup. A genuine transfer coup. And the sad thing for Vasco is they never stood a chance...
