Change in agent and Santos’s need to sell rekindles Chelsea links to young midfield star

You may remember young Santos midfielder, Thiago Maia’s name being thrown around a lot last summer with regards to a potential move to Europe, alongside then-teammate Gabriel “Gabigol” Barbosa who now plays for Inter Milan, both of whom excelled during Brazil’s Olympic tournament as well.

Whispers that Chelsea were interested in Thiago Maia grew louder as Santos President Modesto Roma travelled to England around that time as well, though Roma himself later debunked these rumours later, claiming that no discussions regarding Thiago Maia had taken place.

Ultimately, the 20-year-old ended up staying at Santos, and also signed a deal with a new agent shortly after last season’s transfer window shut. This agent happens to be none other than Giuliano Bertolucci, who also represents the likes of Oscar, Kenedy and Ramires. Meanwhile, Santos need to sell a number of players to balance the books by December; Roma himself has confirmed as much.

All these factors add up to the high probability that Thiago Maia will move this summer, even if there were eventually no official bids submitted for him last summer. So far the only rumours linking him to Chelsea (along with Manchester United and PSG) for a fee of around £16 million are from The Sun, but this might be a situation to keep an eye on in the coming months.