West Brom backed as Carlos Corberan chases Andrey Santos from Chelsea in January transfer window
Andrey Santos has been backed as a strong possible signing for West Brom during the January transfer window by Carlton Palmer.
The former Baggies midfielder told Football League World on 8 January that the “very highly rated” Chelsea youngster would be beneficial as Carlos Corberan looks to secure Championship promotion.
The 19-year-old was recalled from a loan with Nottingham Forest this month, where he saw next to no action under the now-fired Steve Cooper, so Mauricio Pochettino’s side are expected to want to ensure he gets greater opportunities over the rest of the season.
Palmer said: “Another club reported to be interested in Andrey Santos is West Brom.
“West Brom are currently going very, very well in the Championship and they need to bring in players. They’ve got some injuries at the moment to midfield players and strikers, so yes it would be a good potential signing.
“A lot of clubs are interested in Andrey and Chelsea will want to see where he is going to get game time to improve. The Brazilian is very highly rated and West Brom would be a good potential signing in their quest to get into the play-offs or maybe even better.”
Hot prospect
There was some speculation during the previous window that Santos could even be set for a place in the Chelsea first team after his summer arrival, having impressed during preseason [GianlucaDiMarzio.com, 1 August].
So it came as a surprise that he saw so little action at Forest, with just two appearances, but whether that was down to him being unprepared for Premier League football or disfunction at the City Ground will presumably become clear after his next move.
With Okay Yokuslu, Alex Mowatt and Jayson Molumby the regular central midfield options, with former Chelsea man Nathaniel Chalobah as back-up, it would likely require Corberan to see the young Brazilian as an upgrade on at least a couple of them to get substantial action.
If the manager and the recruitment staff can’t convince their counterparts at Stamford Bridge that the opportunities are there at The Hawthorns over the rest of the campaign then it might be impossible to win the race for Santos this month.
But it would be somewhat of a coup for West Brom to bring in such a highly-rated talent at this stage if the commitment to the pursuit is there.
Since the finances, pending a takeover, remain extremely tight by all accounts it may be that Santos, however talented, is not the priority over reinforcements to the attack.
Daryl Dike’s goalscoring return to action against Aldershot in the FA Cup was extremely welcome in the wake of various injuries to the forward departments, but after Jeremy Sarmiento was recalled by Brighton it may be that any new arrivals need to be further up the field than where Santos would operate.
In other West Brom news, Don Goodman has issued an “honest” verdict on the club’s hope of landing top Premier League youngsters during the January transfer window.