The 18-year-old starred for Vasco da Gama in his first season and is the focus of interest from Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Newcastle.
Despite all their efforts this summer, Barcelona still faces one obvious problem to solve over the next 12 months, and that is the search for a replacement for Sergio Busquets.
However, a potential long-term solution may not be so far-fetched.
Andre Santos has already been compared to Busquets in his native Brazil, and reports suggest that Barcelona have made two offers for the young midfielder, which Vasco da Gama rejected, and have also been linked with Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Newcastle and Everton.
The comparison to Busquets is fair enough in terms of his passing ability and the way Andre can handle and resist pressure, although the extra dimension he can bring in the final third is what makes him one of the most interesting defensive midfielders in the world.
He has the stamina to play the number 8 player, can carry the ball the length of the court, and his debut season as a key player in the first team demonstrated Andrey’s ability to score, both from moving and from set pieces.
So some see it as the number 8, the shirt he wears in Vasco, as he follows in the footsteps of one of the club’s symbols Juninho.
Juninho, who made his name in Europe thanks to his ability to take free kicks while in Lyon, said of Andre when speaking to YouTube channel Resenha Loading: “Physically, he’s a beast without the ball. I would have liked to see his GPS. Technically speaking, it is superior to the others.
“He won’t be better than me, he’ll be a lot better than me. He’s a much more complete player. At 18, I didn’t play half of what he does, I’m not ashamed to say that.”
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In addition to Juninho, Andre has also surpassed recent Vasco Academy graduates Felipe Coutinho, Douglas Luiz and Alan – all of whom are now playing in the Premier League – in terms of what he has achieved at his age.
The youngest goalscorer in the club’s history, scoring five goals in 25 first-team appearances, and although the bulk of them have come in the second division, there is no doubt that he will be able to make the same impact in the first division.
Veteran Vasco midfielder Nene said in a recent interview: “It doesn’t even look like he’s that young. He has incredible maturity in coaching, like he’s been with us for many years.
“He has vision to play, a lot of quality and he is good at breaking lines. He is already in the Brazil U-20 team and who knows, maybe soon he will shine in the first national team? He will be a great player.”
Andrei has lived a journey to get to this level, starting his football education at the age of four when he was a little overweight kid and his grandmother enrolled him in a local futsal club in Rio de Janeiro.
She was concerned about Andre’s size, but he quickly fell in love with the game and shed the fat before catching the attention of Vasco’s scouts two years later.
Having become the club’s youngest player in the 21st century, Vasco is now working hard to tie him to a new contract to keep him at the club for at least another 12 months.
The club know the lure of Europe will ultimately be too much for Andre to resist, but Vasco is keen to ensure they get a fair price, with up to €35m (£30m/$35m) already floated for the player keen to keep his feet. In the field.
Andre told GM, “I’m very focused, serious and want to win. I want to win all the time, and I don’t let my teammates rest, because I always want to improve.”
This development could carry him to the Camp Nou, and a more dynamic version of Busquets could find themselves playing the starring role with Barcelona.