Chelsea boost as Andrey Santos gains work permit and first-team plan unfolds
Mauricio Pochettino set to make teenager a part of his senior squad next season
ndrey Santos has been given the green light to commence his Chelsea career with confirmation of his work permit for the pre-season tour of the United States.
After the Brazilian teenager was denied a visa to make his £16million transfer to Stamford Bridge in January, he posted a social media picture of himself posing with his successful application on Thursday.
The news is the first step in him proving his worth to the Blues, with a work permit to play in the UK seen as a formality in the coming days.
Santos, 19, spent the second half of the recent campaign back on loan at Vasco de Gama and is now considered a first-team player at Chelsea as pre-season nears.
He is keen to train under Mauricio Pochettino in as the new Chelsea head coach bids to fill the void left by the departing N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic.
Santos previously missed out on his visa by one point through the FA’s application system.
He has since completed several important landmarks to accrue points - making his full international debut for Brazil, playing in the Brazilian top flight and captaining his national team to the Under-20 South American Championship.
Premier League and EFL clubs are also close to giving formal backing to radical FA plans to allow them to sign up to four promising overseas players a season, who would not get work permits under the current system.
The FA’s proposal incentivises teams by letting them sign young overseas stars if substantial minutes have been given to English-qualified players.