The big story for many that has come from Chelsea’s opening two Club World Cup games is actually the fact one player is yet to feature.
Andrey Santos hasn’t played a single minute of competitive football under Enzo Maresca, which has included the matches against LAFC and Flamengo so far this summer.
Maresca hinted Santos would get his opportunities in his most recent post-match press conference, but many will have been frustrated not to see him feature yet, while new signing Dario Essugo has made his debut.
Santos had actually been tipped to feature in Chelsea’s defeat to Flamengo, however the situation of the game saw the manager look elsewhere when it came to making substitutions.
Andrey Santos will be angry at Nicolas Jackson red card as reason behind his lack of Chelsea minutes
A big reason for this was the second-half red card for Nicolas Jackson. The striker was sent off for the second time in four appearances for Chelsea.
Because of this, Maresca had to employ a different strategy to try and get his side back into the game, and unfortunately the Brazil midfielder fell victim of this.
If Jackson had not got sent off and the Blues had an element of control over the game, it can be expected that the youngster would have been brought on for his competitive Chelsea debut.
Now the situation is clearer before their final group stage game against ES Tunis, there are very few excuses to not see him in action at any stage in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Worries emerging about Andrey Santos’ future
Despite the Club World Cup being just two games in, there are already concerns amongst many that the player’s demands of regular football will not be met this season.
It is expected noise will come from Santos’ camp should this run of zero minutes continue, with plenty of top sides waiting in the wings to pounce on the situation.
Bayern Munich are keen on Santos, while other European giants Arsenal and Barcelona have previously been credited with interest in signing him.
Chelsea certainly hold all the cards in this situation, however Maresca will need to get creative to find a solution that continues to also cater for Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Romeo Lavia.
