Chelsea have left Andrey Santos off their untouchables list, and the 22-year-old is reportedly available at the right price. That leaves his place in the squad open during a summer overhaul built around a protected core of seven players.
The untouchables list includes Reece James, Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Joao Pedro, Estevao Willian and Josh Acheampong. Santos broke through into the first team last season, but he is not part of that group.
Chelsea’s Seven-Player Core
The line Chelsea have drawn is clear. Seven players are being treated as untouchable, while Santos sits outside it despite his first-team breakthrough last season.
That matters because the club is making decisions around a fixed core rather than protecting every young player who has made progress. Santos is 22 and has moved from breakthrough status to possible sale territory in the same summer.
Andrey Santos and the Market
Those close to Santos are open to the possibility of a move, and a number of sides are understood to be interested. Chelsea have not placed a price tag on him yet, which leaves the opening price conversation unresolved even as the willingness to deal is already in place.
There is one more layer to the decision. Chelsea remain under a UEFA settlement agreement, so any sale would sit inside a wider summer reshaping rather than as a stand-alone move.
For Chelsea, the practical question is simple: whether Santos is kept as part of the midfield picture or turned into a sale if the right offer arrives. For Santos, the message is just as direct — first-team progress last season has not put him beyond the market this summer.
