Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos has drawn criticism for complimenting players from Manchester City and Newcastle United and for citing a Manchester United player as his main inspiration.
After graduating from the Vasco do Gama Academy, Santos became a valuable component of their first team squad.
A number of European teams started fighting for the services of the 19-year-old after he guided Brazil U20s to victory at the South American championships in February of last year.
In the end, the race was won by Chelsea. Santos signed a massive seven-and-a-half-year contract with his new club in January of last year after the Blues paid Vasco da Gama £18 million to recruit him.
The young player was questioned about which players, namely from the Premier League, he looked up to in an interview with AS.
By praising the players from Manchester United, City, and Newcastle, he has put all rivalries aside.
“My idol has always been Casemiro,” he said.
“Now I pay a lot of attention to Rodrigo because he is phenomenal. My idols are Rodri, Casemiro and Bruno Guimaraes.”
Santos is getting ready to compete in the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament as a representative of the Brazil U23 team. Prior to the Tuesday night matchup with the Bolivia U23s, he was also questioned over his somewhat underwhelming season thus far.
“Unfortunately I didn’t have the first part of the season that I wanted or that the people around me wanted,” he admitted.
“I didn’t have minutes or I didn’t have many minutes, but I learned a good lesson to mature more. During training I was always doing well, always well focused, always training with intensity, always evolving a lot. That’s what’s important.
“Now I’ve just returned from my loan from Nottingham Forest to Chelsea. We have preferred to wait for this situation, wait until after the Pre-Olympic to decide my future.”
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