Why Mauricio Pochettino will be ecstatic after Andrey Santos & Angelo’s double Chelsea admission

Mauricio Pochettino has made quite the impression on the Chelsea squad and he will be even more impressed with the mindset of two of the younger members in his team.

Chelsea got their 2023 pre-season schedule off to a winning start with a 5-0 win over League Two side Wrexham in North Carolina, courtesy of goals from Ian Maatsen (2), Conor Gallagher, Christopher Nkunku and Ben Chilwell.

Brazilian duo Andrey Santos and Angelo Gabriel made their first appearances in a Chelsea shirt after their moves from Vasco da Gama and Santos respectively, with both impressing on their, albeit unofficial, debuts.

“First of all, I have to thank God for the opportunity, for everything he has been doing in my life,” reflected Angelo to TNT Sports Brasil on his first game in Chelsea colours.

“I’m very happy. It was a wonderful debut, we won, and the most important thing is that we played well, we gave our best and we came out with the victory.”

Santos added: “First of all, I would like to thank God for everything He has done in my life, I am very happy for this debut, very happy to have fulfilled my dream of playing in a big club, in one of the biggest European clubs. Now, it’s time to continue like this.”

Both will be hoping to feature in their next pre-season game against Brighton & Hove Albion as they get their Premier League Summer Series tournament underway this weekend.

But Pochettino, who has worked his squad hard physically since his arrival, will be incredibly satisfied with Santos and Angelo’s hopes for the 2023/24 season – to get back to the top and win trophies.

Santos said: “Unfortunately, we won’t be in Europe, but we have the Premier League, which is very important, one of the hardest competitions and we are going to give it our all because Chelsea always have to be at the top so we will stay strong and God willing we’ll be at the top.”

Angelo added: “Like Andrey said, we know we won’t take part in the Champions or Europa League, but I’m very happy to be playing in one if the best leagues in the world and the expectation is the best possible, we are young, we have just arrived at the club, we are feeling very good – we even talked in the locker room that we were loose (playing freely), we were happy and that helps a lot.

“And how Andrey said, when it comes to Chelsea, we have to be fighting for big things and we are very happy. It will be a wonderful year.

“I hope we can keep building in the last friendlies, that we can keep working well so that when the season starts we are ready and we can do the best we can… God willing we can qualify for the Champions League and win the Premier League title. We’ll work for it!”