Andrey Santos is a future leader for Manchester United, and he is not the only young youth international captain to join the club.
Manchester United’s swoop to sign Andrey Santos is an investment in a player with considerable potential.
The £48m agreement for Santos sees United sign a 22-year-old prospect with Premier League, Ligue 1, and Champions League experience.
While Santos also has six international caps for Brazil, it is his time with their youth sides that has caught our attention.
Andrey Santos captained Brazil at under-20 level and for their under-23 side. United have signed a leader, and this can only be a positive.
This is made even better by the fact Manchester United have actually signed TWO youth international midfield captains this summer.
From this list of Man Utd midfield signings – Who was the best and worst value for money?
What are your hopes and expectations for Andrey Santos?
Cristian Orozco set to join United
Manchester United will complete the signing of Colombian prospect Cristian Orozco when he turns 18, in a few days time – on July 13.
The deal to sign Orozco from Fortaleza was agreed last autumn and has been waiting until it can be formally completed. That will now happen this summer.
Orozco captained Colombia at the Under-17s FIFA World Cup last November, a sign of the trust his coaches have in him.
Like Santos, Orozco is a central midfielder and has since been picking up experience playing senior football in the Colombian top flight.
As with all young players, there is no guarantee of success, but Orozco appears to tick all the boxes. He is a box-to-box midfielder who has captained his country at youth international level – exactly the type of player Manchester United need to be
CAPTION THIS… Picture from when Andrey Santos came up against Aurelien Tchouameni on international duty
An old school Caption Competition 🏆
Orozco and Santos pairing
Cristian Orozco is behind Andrey Santos in his development, only turning 18 this month. So he will have some catching up to do.
His 2026/27 season could be spent with the Manchester United academy, and it’s possible that the following year we may see him go out on loan.
Santos has been through this in his development, spending a year in Ligue 1 with Strasbourg, and another loan spell at Nottingham Forest.
But you would hope that eventually, Orozco will break into the Manchester United first team, by which time Santos will be even further along in his own journey.
Do Manchester United have the future captain of Brazil and the future captain of Colombia in the same team? It’s very possible.
It might take all the way until when World Cup 2030 is underway for the pair to be hitting their peak, but it is an intriguing partnership to keep an eye on in the future, once Orozco catches up.
Who knows, we might even get an early glimpse in pre-season.
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