The announcement of the sale of Andrey Santos to Chelsea should take place at any moment, but the amounts of the negotiation could remain unconfirmed for some time. The departure of the jewel was foreseeable, it would have taken place in the current window, at the latest in the next, in six months. What catches the eye now is how much the Maltese cross can gain from the transfer.
Unofficial data shows that SAF can receive €8 million for the transfer, for a total amount of €12.5 million. It would make Andrey Santos the protagonist of the third biggest sale in the history of Vasco, behind the negotiation of Paulinho for Bayer Leverkusen and Douglas Luiz for Manchester City. They generated €20 million and €13 million respectively.
Andrey Santos’ career at Vasco this season has had a direct impact on the outcome of the deal. And the process reflects the difficulties Cruz-Maltino experienced before the creation and sale of the Sociedade Anônima de Futebol.
The beginning
The first professional contract between Vasco and Andrey was signed in August 2020. As a minor player at the time, the club was limited to a three-year bond. The defensive midfielder was already a star in the grassroots categories, with a strong presence in young Brazilian teams.
In these cases, where the boy is promising, the training club, in order to protect itself from the interest of other teams, has the priority, in addition to signing the first professional contract, to carry out a first renewal.
Vasco failed, throughout 2021 and for most of 2022, to assert this right to renew with Andrey Santos. As the end of his contract approaches, he has lost his bargaining power to negotiate with the midfielder’s representatives. From February 2023 he could sign a pre-contract with any team and the Maltese cross will not receive anything for his departure.
The process of transitioning control of football from the association club to the SAF also weighed heavily. Finally, in September of this year, the new contract was signed. This bond, lasting until September 2027.
technical dependence
There is a traditional strategy that clubs use to protect themselves from the early exit of talented players. To put pressure on him to sign a contract renewal and thus expect a higher income with a future sale, the club is trying to delay the rise of the promise in the first team.
In the case of Andrey Santos this was not possible, because Vasco soon found themselves in 2022 technically dependent on the qualities of the midfielder. Andrey was the team’s best player in a season in which the return to Serie A only came in the last round. Keeping him in the sub-20 and conditioning Andrey’s promotion to the professionals on signing a new contract would risk failing to finish the second division in the top four.
