There are times when a player is at a standstill in their career, and they can be saved if picked up by a suitable club. Manchester United will hope Andrey Santos becomes a prime example of that in the coming years.
Manchester United have agreed a £48m deal for Andrey Santos, including £2m in add-ons, with Chelsea setting a £50m asking price on the Brazilian.
This means Santos is set to join fellow Brazilian midfielder Ederson by signing for United this summer.
Everyone at Old Trafford will hope that Santos does what Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah did after leaving Stamford Bridge, exposing Chelsea’s impatience.
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Andrey Santos could follow in Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah’s footsteps
United didn’t panic after missing out on Mateus Fernandes to Tottenham, with a degree of faith shown in the recruitment team.
Although reports emerged in May, Santos was rarely linked to United until recent days, which suggests that the transfer wish list contains players who have not been overly documented by the press.
Santos has made 28 Premier League appearances – including one from his brief spell on loan at Nottingham Forest – but he has been tipped to bring a level of energy to United’s midfield that has been lacking.
Arriving at Chelsea from Vasco da Gama in 2023, Santos came with high expectations and proved why on loan at Strasbourg in Ligue 1.
While the 22-year-old has shown plenty of promise during his time at Chelsea, he has been unable to break into the team past Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo.
It is understood that Santos wanted to leave Stamford Bridge in search of regular game time. He can achieve that at United by impressing Michael Carrick, who is in the process of rebuilding the midfield.
Chelsea is not standing in Santos’ way of joining a rival in the Premier League. The icing on the cake would be if Santos was to develop into a world-class player and join Chelsea’s list of players who got away.
Two players at the top of that list are Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah.
De Bruyne only made nine appearances under Jose Mourinho before being sold to Wolfsburg for £18m.
After proving himself as one of the best players in the Bundesliga, just a year and a half later, Man City bought him for £55m. That was before the Belgian playmaker became one of the greatest midfielders in Premier League history.
Three years later, Salah was sold to Roma for £13m, after making just 19 appearances under Mourinho.
Liverpool signed Salah within a year later as the Egyptian won two Premier League titles and the Champions League before leaving Anfield this summer.
Santos will have to work incredibly hard to reach those heights at Old Trafford, but Carrick will be hoping to give him the platform to make it a reality.
- ⚡️ NEWS IN BRIEF
- Manchester United have reached an agreement to sign Andrey Santos from Chelsea
- The transfer will cost £48m plus £2m in add-ons
- Santos can replicate Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne by making Chelsea regret his sale
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Andrey Santos set to become 12th Brazilian signed by Man Utd
United had signed a total of 11 Brazilian players before reaching an agreement to sign Santos.
That means the figure will soon become 13 – once deals are completed for not only Santos, but Ederson.
Here is the complete list of every Brazilian player signed by United
- Kleberson (2003)
- Andersson (2007)
- Rodrigo Possebon (2008)
- Rafael da Silva (2008)
- Fabio da Silva (2008)
- Andreas Pereira (2011)
- Fred (2018)
- Alex Telles (2020)
- Casemiro (2022)
- Antony (2022)
- Matheus Cunha (2025)
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