Newcastle make enquiry to sign Chelsea midfielder in January

Newcastle signed teenage talent Lewis Hall from Chelsea on an initial loan deal last summer, one that will become permanent at the end of the season for a fee of up to £35m.

You might think that Chelsea would resent losing an academy graduate to a fellow Premier League club, particularly after Newcastle issued a statement of intent by finishing in the top four, but it was actually a deal that made sense for everybody involved. Mauricio Pochettino already had Ben Chilwell, Marc Cucurella and Ian Maatsen at his disposal, so he was happy to bank a significant windfall for Hall in a deal that was further sweetened by a “meaningful” sell-on clause (The Athletic).

Now, it looks like Newcastle could be about to re-open those summer communication deals to try and strike a deal for midfielder Andrey Santos. It was only a year ago that Chelsea paid €12.5m (£10.8m) to sign him from Brazilian club Vasco de Gama, with Santos officially arriving at Stamford Bridge in the summer (Transfermarkt). The Blues would then immediately loan him to Nottingham Forest, but game time has proven extremely hard to come by.

Newcastle make approach for Andrey Santos

It’s no surprise that Chelsea are intent on exercising their right to terminate Santos’ loan in January and potentially sending him somewhere else for the second half of the season (Ben Jacobs via Si Phillips Talks Chelsea).

Sensing an opportunity, Newcastle have enquired about the availability of Santos, but any move will depend on Chelsea’s willingness to do further business with the Magpies. As it stands, they are separated by just one place and one point in the table, with Eddie Howe’s side marginally ahead.

Up to this point, he’s played a mere seven minutes in the Premier League (in a substitute appearance against Liverpool in October), and only made the bench a further six times. His solitary start for the club, meanwhile, came in a League Cup defeat to Burnley at the end of August (Transfermarkt).

Santos already a Brazil international

While things haven’t worked out at Forest, time very much remains on Santos’ side given that he’s only 19 years old. Indeed, it’s worth remembering that he was the top scorer at the South American Youth Championship earlier this year with six goals, and has already earned a full debut for the Brazil national team (Transfermarkt). No wonder, then, that one talent scout has dubbed him a “machine” (Jacek Kulig).

If we cast our minds back to last year, Chelsea won a transfer race that also featured Manchester City, Barcelona and Newcastle themselves (ESPN). This was a youngster coveted by some of the biggest and wealthiest clubs on the planet, and Howe will see no harm in trying to acquire him on a short-term basis to compensate for the initial disappointment.

Indeed, while his international goalscoring record might suggest otherwise, Santos is a defensive midfielder by trade, and that could make him particularly useful to Newcastle. As we know, Sandro Tonali will be unavailable until August after he was banned for breaking gambling rules, so this represents an astute stop-gap signing.