Man Utd signed a midfielder hours before Aurelien Tchouameni signed a new contract, but how does Andrey Santos’ style of play compare to the Frenchman?
Having agreed a deal worth an initial £48m, Michael Carrick can welcome a new signing before the start of the pre-season.
Andrey Santos is an exciting prospect with the potential to be an amazing player, but “potential” is the key word here.
That’s because he needs a marquee midfielder to cover for, as Andrey Santos’ playing style makes it abundantly clear.
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Andrey Santos style of play vs Aurelien Tchouameni
Before delving into details, it is worth noting that Tchouameni and Santos are at very different points in their careers.
Santos has six caps for Brazil at 22, while Tchouameni is the starter for club and country, and in his peak years.
Therefore, there are bound to be some gaps between them, since we’re effectively comparing potential with current ability.
Having said that, the early signs of Santos are very promising, even if there are some rough edges to be smoothed with time.
Here, we compared Santos’ style of play to Tchouameni based on the broader phases of a midfielder – defensive acumen, passing ability, and attacking instinct.
Santos vs Tchouameni – Defensive acumen
Tchouameni is a brilliant sweeper of attacks, who uses his intelligence to cut off passing lanes, but is equally capable of doing the dirty work in combat.
His defensive impact, defensive actions, and duel-winning ability are off the charts, as he sets the standards in those metrics compared to midfielders across the top-five leagues.
He is particularly impactful in aerial duels, so he would have been ideally suited to the Premier League.
In contrast, Santos is very much a work in progress in this phase, albeit with early signs that he could replicate Tchouameni’s profile eventually.
A lack of verticality for a defensive midfielder hurts Santos, so Tchouameni dominates aerially, but he’s largely on track to become a similarly solid version of the Frenchman.
He is prone to losing his man in defence, and is also guilty of being too trigger-happy in the press, leading to a scrambling defensive shape.
As you can see above, Tchouameni clears Santos is every defensive category, but adjusting the league difficulty, age difference, and success of Chelsea and Real Madrid respectively, he’s on the right track if he shows defensive improvement in his game.
He needs more minutes to iron out the errors in his defensive game, and more importantly, coaching to sort out some of his positional negligence. The raw tools are there.
Santos vs Tchouameni – Ability on the ball
Santos played for a Chelsea side that loved to have sterile possession a lot of the time, while Tchouameni launched quick vertical play after breaking up opposition attacks.
That is reflected in their stats, where Tchouameni is miles ahead again, but context is needed again.
Santos passes the eye test when it comes to ability on the ball, as he likes to play the ball forward and break lines with his passing.
He’s not in the Ederson mold of a ball-circulator. He will seriously get the ball forward and turn defence into attack.
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Tchouameni, in contrast, is a jack of all trades and a master of them, too. He is the focal point of Madrid’s midfield, so that volume of possession naturally translates to higher raw numbers on the ball.
The brief summary is that Santos shows the most untapped potential in this aspect, where a simple trust in his ability by his manager could see him take a quantum leap.
Santos vs Tchouameni – Attacking instincts
This is where Santos truly shines, and why he will replace Casemiro at Old Trafford in a way Man Utd wouldn’t have thought was possible.
Santos has the ability to sniff out chances in and around the box and has a Casemiro-like ability to get on the end of chances.
Chelsea didn’t trust him much last season, but he scored 10 goals for Strasbourg from midfield in the 2024/25 season.
Tchouameni’s attacking instincts are polished as well, but Madrid use those skills as a luxury. They mainly need Tchouameni to be the cement between the stones, but he still manages to do a lot with the ball.
Shooting and set-piece scoring are the only areas in which Santos is already ahead of Tchouameni, and that is great for United because Casemiro’s goals from midfield will suddenly be missed a lot less.
Final verdict on Andrey Santos style of play vs Tchouameni
So there you have it. Santos vs Tchouameni is a comparison between ability and potential, but Santos has all the raw tools to eventually become what the Frenchman is today.
For that, he needs serious defensive improvement, a coach needs to trust his ability on the ball, all the while preserving his attacking instincts.
As of now, Santos’ playing style can be summed up as a more mobile version of the 25/26 Casemiro, which is an upgrade in itself.
If Carrick could make it work with Casemiro, then Santos has even more legs. All he needs is coaching to hone his defensive instincts, which will also come with game time.
United are investing in the high ceiling of Santos, which is a shrewd move where even young midfielders like Mateus Fernandes are going for £85m.
If things break right, Santos could easily be worth far more than that this time next season. Had he been playing for a Brighton or Brentford, and given regular minutes, he’d be going for £100m this summer.
This player is a stressed asset with sky-high potential.
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