It has been a long time coming since Chelsea signed Gabriel Slonina in the summer, but the USA national has now finally made his first appearance for the Blues. The 18-year-old remained with Chicago Fire on loan until the MLS season and made visits to Cobham and to Chelsea away games but finally arrived full-time at Cobham for 2023.
The youngster has already racked up 43 first team appearances in the MLS but has to work his way past Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Marcus Bettinelli to earn a regular first team role. His first outing in Chelsea colours came for the under-21 side in Premier League 2.
Slonina recorded his first clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Wolves sealed by Mason Burstow and Dion Rankine in a solid display. It seems he could be the the figure helping to lead the charge for Mark Robinson's side for the remainder of the season.
READ MORE: The inside story on Gabriel Slonina's Chicago Fire journey and why he can succeed at Chelsea
Regular under-21s number one Eddie Beach headed out on loan on Friday to National League South side Chelmsford City. The 19-year-old, who joined Chelsea from Southampton in the summer and travelled to Craven Cottage with the first team, is not the only Blues goalkeeper to make a temporary departure however. Teddy Sherman-Lowe, who has spent much of the season injured, also headed to the sixth tier of football, joined title-challengers Havant & Waterlooville.
That leaves the path for Slonina to make the position his own supported by under-18 talents Ted Curd and Max Merrick. The latter appeared on the bench at Kingsmeadow on Friday evening before starting for the under-18s in Norwich on Saturday.
Chelsea supporters will have to wait a little longer to get a first glimpse of Andrey Santos however. The 18-year-old midfielder was the west London side's third transfer this month as he joined from Vasco da Gama, excited to perhaps feature in the Premier League.
On signing for the Blues, Santos said: "It’s a very big opportunity for me. This is a big club playing in big competitions like the Premier League so I am very excited. The players here are so good and I am very happy to be here."
The young star was named in Brazil's squad for the South American Under-20 championship in December and while his availability for the competition was far from certain having joined Chelsea, it appears he has been allowed to travel for the competition.
Brazil's campaign is set to get underway on January 19 with Santos heading out for the tournament on the January 14. The competition runs until February 12.
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