Chelsea have agreed a deal to loan out Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos to Nottingham Forest, 90min understands.

An £18m signing from Vasco da Gama in January, Santos spent the second half of last season back with his former side before moving to Stamford Bridge this summer and heading out on pre-season with Mauricio Pochettino's squad.

Since his return, however, Chelsea have bolstered heavily in midfield, spending £196.5m to sign Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu, and competition for minutes has been so heavy that Santos did not even make the matchday squad for the defeat to West Ham United.

While Chelsea and Pochettino are known to be enormous fans of Santos - the plan was to keep the Brazilian around for the coming season - 90min understands Blues officials now believe a loan would be more beneficial.

Chelsea would prefer to see Santos start regularly in the Premier League rather than play limited minutes at Stamford Bridge, and so a deal has been agreed to send the 19-year-old to Forest to work with Steve Cooper.

Cooper, a former England Under-17 manager, has an excellent reputation when it comes to developing young players and played a huge role in Conor Gallagher's emergence at Swansea City, among other success stories.

Gallagher had been made available for transfer earlier this summer but he could now stay at Chelsea, who have also lost Carney Chukwuemeka to injury.

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Ugochukwu had been expected to depart on loan after his £23.5m move from Rennes but the 19-year-old, who came off the bench towards the end of the 1-1 draw with Liverpool, may end up staying as well.

A loan to sister side Strasbourg had been planned but Chelsea must contend with FIFA's new loan rules, which limit teams to seven senior overseas loans this season.

Kepa Arrizabalaga, Hakim Ziyech, David Datro Fofana, Gabriel Slonina and Angelo take up five of those spots, while Romelu Lukaku is now in talks with Roma after Chelsea were forced to soften their demands of a permanent sale.

Teenage striker Deivid Washington, a recent £17m signing from Santos, had also been tipped to move to Strasbourg, while Malang Sarr remains on the transfer list as well. With just two spots remaining for at least four players, Chelsea may be forced to consider alternative options.

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This article was originally published on 90min as Andrey Santos set to join Nottingham Forest on loan from Chelsea.