Andrey Santos has confirmed that he rejected the chance to increase his salary by 500 per cent this summer, opting to stay at Chelsea despite a highly lucrative offer from Al-Qadsiah in the Saudi Pro League.
In an interview with Trivela, the 21-year-old midfielder confirmed the rumors that had been floating about earlier in the transfer window, with the club directly funded by Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, Aramco reportedly offering Chelsea €70m and Santos himself €8m annually to join them.
(Similar offers found willing minds in Gladbach’s Julian Weigl and Atalanta’s Mateo Retegui.)
Of course, the young midfielder’s decision to stay wasn’t necessarily motivated by love or loyalty, but rather by the belief that he will have a better chance at a World Cup squad spot this way. So far, so good in that regard. We can work on all that other stuff later — with minutes, with time, with trust.
“The offer did arrive, but I immediately declined because of my dream and main goal, which is the World Cup. I know that being at Chelsea and in the Premier League gives me better chances than in Saudi Arabia. That was the main factor in my response to them,“
-Andrey Santos; source: Trivela via Google Translate
May this be the first foundational brick in building his legend here!
