When Andrey Santos was sent on loan by Chelsea to Nottingham Forest, the hope would doubtless have been that the 19-year-old would be getting some significant minutes at the City Ground.
The Brazilian joined the Blues last January but as of this moment is yet to make his competitive debut with them.
That was part of the reason why he was sent out on loan, but what should’ve been a confidence building exercise has turned into anything but.
He has barely played for Forest, with WhoScored denoting that he’s had just 97 minutes in all competitions – 90 minutes in a Carabao Cup tie, and seven in the Premier League.
To that end, Mauricio Pochettino and his Chelsea backroom staff would have every right to feel aggrieved with Forest manager, Steve Cooper, however, the former England U16 and U17 coach has attempted to set the record straight.
“Everyone would have liked Andrey to play more. He is a really good young player, but there isn’t a load of players his age who are playing regularly in the Premier League,” he was quoted as saying by Metro.
“It is the sort of situation where if he was our player, he would be in the perfect situation of being in and around the first-team, looking to involve him and giving him some exposure when you can, but knowing you are developing him and getting him ready.
“The context to it is he isn’t our player, he is Chelsea’s, and that probably just adds a few question marks to the situation, which I understand. I take individual youth development personally. It means a lot to me because of my background and where I spent a lot of my coaching years. That will be no different with Andrey.
“In terms of the training programme, yes, game time has been very minimal. But I think the question has come up because we’re not his parent club.”
It appears to be a foregone conclusion that Santos’ loan deal will now be terminated in January, but it isn’t clear at this stage whether Chelsea will offer him elsewhere for the remainder of the 2023/24 campaign, or prefer to have him close by at their Cobham training ground, in order that he gets the chance to finally make his debut for the Blues.