Chelsea eye Man Utd target

Danilo Santos Transfer News: Chelsea plot audacious raid to steal Man Utd’s next midfield target

Danilo Santos Transfer News: Chelsea don’t do things quietly. They just don’t.

Having shipped Andrey Santos to Manchester United for a staggering £50 million, Todd Boehly and his recruitment team have already found their next obsession. It is a name that will cause a few sharp intakes of breath at Old Trafford. According to Brazilian outlet FogãoNET, Chelsea have made direct contact with Botafogo over Danilo Santos. The 25-year-old midfielder, fresh off a plane from Brazil’s 2026 World Cup campaign, is suddenly the most wanted man in West London.

Chaos is the default setting at Stamford Bridge right now. Xabi Alonso has walked into a dressing room bruised by a miserable tenth-place finish last season, a disaster that cost Enzo Maresca his job, before Liam Rosenior briefly held the reins and departed too. There is no European football on offer. Not a single Thursday night in Europe. That hurts their pulling power, obviously, but it completely clears a fixture list that suffocated the squad last year. Alonso needs a clean slate. He needs a midfield general. (Via Football 365)

What the stats say about Botafogo’s star

The numbers tell you exactly why Chelsea are briefing journalists about him. Twelve games into the 2026 Brazilian Série A season, Danilo has started every single match. Seven goals. Two assists. All from central midfield across 1,071 minutes of football. That is a ridiculous return for a player who spends half his time breaking up play, and a 7.47 average FotMob rating proves it isn’t a fluke.

Botafogo want €40 million. That is roughly £34 million in proper money. Reports from Sport Witness suggest that price tag might drop a bit, mostly because he only got 43 minutes of action across four substitute appearances at the World Cup.

He knows the Premier League. Nottingham Forest bought him once before, and while injuries completely ruined that spell, he still clocked up 62 appearances in England. He has the scars. He knows what a wet Tuesday night in Stoke feels like, a luxury most South American imports don’t have. Going back to Brazil clearly fixed whatever was broken.

Manchester United got there first, though. They opened talks with Botafogo well before Chelsea poked their noses in, a fact backed up by O Dia. Arsenal have been hovering, too. Newcastle United are apparently the ones leading the race right now, furious that they missed out on Andrey Santos and desperate to avoid a second snub.

It is a proper four-way scrap. Alonso changes the dynamic completely. The elegant Spaniard knows what a top-tier midfielder looks like, and Portuguese outlet TSF says he is driving this chase personally.

He isn’t the only target on the radar. Diogo Costa is the other man Chelsea want. The 26-year-old Porto goalkeeper has a €60 million release clause, and Chelsea will pay it if Porto refuse to sit at the negotiating table. TSF claims the Portuguese club have no intention of selling their number one. Chelsea don’t care. They have the cash.

Read: Chelsea wanted to hijack Man Utd’s £34m deal for rock-solid player

Not everyone thinks this merry-go-round makes sense. Nicky Butt, speaking to Paddy Power, didn’t hold back when assessing the £50 million United spent on Andrey Santos. The former United midfielder pointed out that the kid only started 13 games for a team that finished tenth. “I hope I’m wrong,” Butt said.