Chelsea Already Has a Major Upgrade on Amougou Who Hasn’t Played for the Club Yet

Chelsea’s midfield options are looking thin, with injuries to Roméo Lavia and several other midfielders out on loan. This has led to Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernández starting most matches, raising concerns about their workload and potential for burnout or injury.

On deadline day, Chelsea signed Mathis Amougou from St Etienne for around £12.5 million. However, the club already has two promising young midfielders out on loan who could have potentially filled the gap – Lesley Ugochukwu and Andrey Santos.

Ugochukwu is impressing on loan at Southampton, making 18 appearances so far this season. The 20-year-old has been compared to Aurelien Tchouameni in terms of potential, standing at 6’3″ and excelling at defensive actions and ball retention.

However, it’s Andrey Santos who looks to be the real gem. The Brazilian midfielder is thriving on loan at Strasbourg, scoring 8 goals and providing 2 assists in 20 appearances. When comparing his underlying stats to Amougou’s, Santos comes out ahead in almost every category:

• Goals + Assists per 90: Santos 0.46 vs Amougou 0.00
• Progressive Carries per 90: Santos 1.02 vs Amougou 0.84
• Progressive Passes per 90: Santos 4.87 vs Amougou 3.79
• Pass Completion %: Santos 87.2% vs Amougou 77.1%
• Tackles per 90: Santos 3.74 vs Amougou 2.21

Santos has been described as a “one-man war machine” due to his all-action style, contributing in attack, defense and transition. While Chelsea have opted to let both Santos and Ugochukwu complete their loan spells, it seems they may already have a major upgrade on Amougou waiting in the wings for next season.