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When the Philadelphia Union's Discovery List surfaced a little over a month ago, the names of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and John Terry rightly grabbed the bulk of the attention. The other five players were noted, but their presence on The Whiteboard didn't receive much fanfare.
Christian Santos was one of those five, and he's probably the best player aside from Zlatan and Terry. The Venezuelan forward has been tearing it up for Dutch club N.E.C. over the past two seasons. In the 2014-15 term, Santos scored 23 goals to bring his side up to the Eredivisie. Through 64 games, the 28-year-old has 39 goals for the club. His contract expires at the end of the month; however, and Santos is in search of a new team. He's said himself that he'd like to play in Spain, and reports have heavily linked him to Real Betis of La Liga. For now, the forward is focusing on Copa América, where his Venezuelan side is one of the stories of the tournament so far. After La Vinotinto's 1-0 victory over Uruguay in Philadelphia last night, The Brotherly Game and Philly Voice caught up with Christian Santos.
The Brotherly Game: "It was reported here in Philadelphia that you were on the Philadelphia Union's Discovery List. Had you heard about that?"
Christian Santos: "Discovery List? What's that?"
TBG: "Basically it gives them the rights to sign you if you were to come to MLS."
CS: "No, I didn't hear about that."
TBG: "So I guess the Union didn't reach out to you the other day while you practiced at the Union's facilities?"
CS: "No, no, nothing about that."
Philly Voice: "Would you ever have any interest in coming to the United States?"
CS: "Well, uh, I think in the moment, my focus is in Europe, the Spanish league or [the English league]."
TBG: "Possibly Real Betis?"
CS: "I don't know, maybe. There are some clubs that we are talking with, that my agent is talking with, and, yea, we will see. I hope I get really soon an answer."
There you have it. Santos intends on taking his talents to one of Europe's top leagues, and it's really no surprise given the type of season he had in the Eredivisie. That the Union didn't contact him suggests that either the discovery claim was initially filed in order to trade it to a potential suitor later on, or the Union deemed Santos an unrealistic target and set their sights elsewhere.