Inter eyeing summer move for Liam Rosenior favourite at Chelsea

Inter Milan have a long-standing interest in Chelsea’s Andrey Santos and the Blues’ stance on the midfielder may have changed.

The 21-year-old joined Chelsea from Vasco da Gama in 2023 but took time to establish himself in the first team.

He returned to the Brazilian club on loan and then had short-term stints at Nottingham Forest and Strasbourg.

He was a regular under Liam Rosenior in the 2024/25 season with the French side, scoring 11 goals in 34 games and setting himself up to make an impression in west London.

Now Rosenior is in charge at Chelsea and the Brazil international has been playing regularly at Stamford Bridge, turning out 37 times so far this campaign across all competitions.

Despite seemingly growing into his Chelsea career, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reports that Inter are looking to tempt him away from the Premier League.

Talks were held with the midfielder’s agent last summer, which led to nothing, while there was also an offer of around £43m from Saudi Arabia which was rejected.

Inter have not given up, though, and will come calling again in the summer if they feel Chelsea’s stance has softened.

While he has featured regularly, Santos has started just 10 Premier League games and the Blues could be tempted to cash in on him if a big over comes in.

Rosenior would be unlikely to be keen on letting the Brazilian go, though, having been full of praise for him this season.

‘Andrey, for me, is a magnificent player,’ the Chelsea boss said last month. ‘He’s a young player who plays way beyond his years.

‘He is what I would call an “intangibles player”, where he does things in games that sometimes people don’t see. He will, for example, fill a position when the ball is nowhere near him, or he’ll make the right pass and two or three passes later we end up with a chance.

‘Andrey helps players around him become better players because he’s so selfless in the way he plays. He’s been top in the games that he’s played, and I’m really enjoying working with him again.’

Rosenior will not be worrying about Santos’ future right now, but instead about his team’s form, which has been troubling of late.

The 3-0 loss at Everton on Saturday was the Blues’ fourth defeat on the spin in all competitions.

Chelsea sit sixth in the Premier League table, but Rosenior is not panicking as they look to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

‘We are a point away from the Champions League,’ he said. ‘I’m learning about this club, there has been a lot of noise, negative noise, and rightly so about our performances last week.

‘We have had 10 games in the league together as a group, and we have 17 points. I think we are fourth in my time. Forget the noise, we have to keep our calm and our composure.

‘An international break has probably come at a good time for us to restart and go again for a really good run in.’