Chelsea’s summer exits are already splitting into two very different stories. Enzo Fernández has made a quick impact at Manchester City, while Andrey Santos has barely got started at Manchester United. Marc Cucurella has also settled quickly away from Chelsea, which makes the club’s summer sales look a lot less uniform than the headline figure suggests.
Enzo and Cucurella have hit the ground running
Chelsea signed 10 new first-team players in the summer and recouped £400million in sales. Some of the departures have helped the club’s balance sheet more than they have helped their old rivals on the pitch, and the clearest example is Enzo.
He has made 3 Premier League appearances for Manchester City, scored 1 goal in 248 minutes and also provided 1 assist in his lone Champions League appearance. That is early end product rather than a long-term verdict, but it is still a strong opening.
Cucurella’s start is steadier than flashy. He has nailed down the left-back spot at Real Madrid under Jose Mourinho, with a 6.78 rating across 6 La Liga appearances and 404 minutes, plus a 7.0 rating in 1 Champions League appearance. Standard Sport’s verdict was that “some of those ex-Chelsea players have started brightly at their new clubs, others not so much.”
Santos is still waiting for a proper run
The contrast is sharpest with Santos. Standard Sport said: “The Brazilian midfielder has not impressed and now faces a fight to start more regularly after sitting on the bench for two weekends in a row.”
The numbers match that view. Santos has played just three times and only 83 minutes of Premier League football for Manchester United, with 92 Premier League minutes across 3 appearances and 5 appearances in all competitions. That is not a player who has been frozen out completely, but it is a player who has not been trusted with a sustained run in the league.
Chelsea’s £400million in sales looks clever on paper because it came alongside major churn, but the early returns are uneven. Enzo is contributing straight away, Cucurella has found a role, and Santos still has to force his way into the picture before anyone can call his move a success.
Manchester United’s next league match will tell us a bit more about Santos’s standing, but the first chapter is plain enough: 83 Premier League minutes is a long way from the immediate involvement Chelsea have seen from Enzo and Cucurella.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
