Could Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca have a selection dilemma on his hands?placeholder image
Could Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca have a selection dilemma on his hands? | Getty Images
Moises Caicedo was benched against Burnley but another Chelsea midfielder took the chance to step up to the plate.
Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos has been praised for his Player of the Match performance against Burnley on Saturday afternoon as the 21-year-old turned heads in the centre of the park.
The Blues paid £13 million to sign Santos from Vasco da Gama in 2023 but had spent seasons on loan at Nottingham Forest and Strasbourg. It’s proving to be a breakthrough season for the midfielder, who played his first full 90 minutes at Turf Moor.
That came with Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca making the brave decision to rest linchpin Moises Caicedo, who was an unused substitute on the bench. That was not a result of an injury and rather thinking ahead to a midweek meeting with Barcelona and next weekend’s clash with Arsenal.
Andrey Santos ‘outstanding’ for Chelsea against Burnley
Speaking after the game, former Chelsea midfielder praised Santos as ‘outstanding’. He told TNT Sports: “He was outstanding. It wasn’t much on the ball, he was very tidy and efficient, but off the ball... we questioned how Chelsea would react without Caicedo today because of the things that he can do and blocking runs and breaking down play, but he was absolutely outstanding.
“Every time there was a bit of danger, he sniffed it out. Sometimes, players have a natural ability with this and he seems to be one of those players. Chelsea now have Enzo, Lavia, Caicedo and Santos as well - is there a collection of four central midfielders better in the league? I don’t think there is.”
Cole went on to admit that Maresca has somewhat of a conundrum when it comes to team selection and that Santos could potentially look to take his career elsewhere if not handed enough minutes.
Chelsea risk history repeating itself with well-stocked squad
He reflected: “That’s not changed at Chelsea, we’ve seen players who have come in and some have bided their time to get in the team and some, most famously your De Bruynes and Salahs, have gone and started their career elsewhere. They have stockpiled players traditionally over the years, it is a big squad.
“How many games is he going to play? What’s his minutes? If Chelsea got desire to go deep into all competitions, I think he’ll play enough to satisfy him now. For me, he looks like a starter and there’s a lot of players at Chelsea.”
Santos was rated a 9/10 for his showing by The Express, the outlet praising his ‘excellent defensive skills’ in that role. Speaking after the match, Maresca agreed and said: “Andrey's position is the position he played today. Usually with us he goes higher up because we have Moi but we needed to find a solution. He was very good.”
In other news, Chelsea lucky as Peter Bankes misinterprets Law 16 in controversial Burnley incident - opinion.
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