Chelsea could reportedly pull the plug on two transfer agreements in January in order to please Mauricio Pochettino. The Blues currently have a large number of players on loan to other clubs but some deals have not worked out in the way they would have liked.
Andrey Santos has endured a nightmare loan spell at Nottingham Forest, with the 19-year-old having played just seven minutes of Premier League football this season. It seems as though Chelsea are losing patience over his lack of game time ahead of the January transfer window, at which point they will be able to recall him.
The Blues are ready to bring Santos back to Stamford Bridge at the turn of the year in order to avoid harming his development, according to Fabrizio Romano. It is said that Pochettino and other Chelsea figures are ‘not happy’ with the current situation and have already decided to recall Santos, but this could change if his playing time dramatically increases over the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the Evening Standard report that Diego Moreira could also see his loan spell cut short when the transfer window opens for business. The teenage winger, who joined Chelsea from Benfica in the summer, is currently at Lyon but has only made one start and two substitute appearances since moving to the Ligue 1 strugglers.
Chelsea are reportedly willing to recall Moreira as well as Santos but it is claimed that it will cost around £2.5million for them to bring the former back to west London. It would not be a surprise if both players are shipped out to new loan clubs in January, with neither likely to challenge for regular minutes at Chelsea as things stand.
Their squad is already bloated after bringing in a huge number of players in recent transfer windows and keeping Santos and Moreira at the club would only serve to exacerbate the issue. Pochettino spoke at length about the need to trim his squad earlier this year, saying: “At the moment the dynamic is very good, really good guys and they are sharing the time together.
“What we cannot have is a massive squad, players not being involved and then it’s going to create a mess in the squad. It is difficult because sometimes in every game three, four, five players cannot play and that is difficult because the mood is difficult. It is about creating a squad with good balance and people who have the opportunity to play and can compete for their place.
“We need 22, 23, 24 players with some younger, and that’s it. I am so sorry because maybe the decision will be tough, but we need to build a good and balanced team who want to compete for things.”
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