Chelsea knock back £42m proposal from West Ham United for Andrey Santos | OneFootball

West Ham United have tabled a £42 million bid for Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos, according to Diario AS journalist Eduardo Burgos.

West Ham want reinforcements in the middle of the park at the London Stadium club, and the 3-0 defeat to Sunderland today is a timely reminder.

Santos could be a solid addition to the Hammers midfield but Chelsea do not want to let him go as they consider the Brazilian to be a key player in the plans of manager Enzo Maresca.

As a result, the Blues have knocked back the bid from West Ham and it remains to be seen whether they have plans to return with an improved bid.

The 21-year-old will be hoping to play regularly for Chelsea after spending the last 18 months on loan in the Ligue 1 with Strasbourg.

Santos joined the Stamford Bridge club from Vasco da Gama in 2023, spending the first half of 2023-24 on loan with Nottingham Forest before he was recalled after making just two appearances in five months.

He played four games for the Blues at the Club World Cup but is not guaranteed a starting place in the starting XI this season.

West Ham struggled against the newly-promoted Black Cats today, and manager Graham Potter knows he needs to make quality additions to his squad before the summer transfer window closes.

They have signed Mads Hermansen, Callum Wilson, Kyle Walker-Peters and El Hadji Malick Diouf so far after signing Jean-Clair Todibo permanently, but they clearly need to make more quality recruitment.

A midfielder like the talented and highly-rated Santos would have come in handy, but the Brazil international is unlikely to be allowed to leave the London club this summer.

West Ham are back in action next Friday for their first home game of the season when they take on Chelsea, and the South American could be featuring against them as they look to bounce back from today’s disappointing result.