Manchester United are set to make Andrey Santos their second signing of the summer, and it’s a stroke of genius in more ways than one.
To put it simply, getting a player like Andrey Santos for £48m in this insane market is a very good deal in itself.
Santos is a stressed asset with immense upside, so Man Utd might have played a blinder here in terms of the finances involved.
However, an underrated stroke of genius is what it does to two parties who will now be left scrambling.
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Man Utd’s Andrey Santos deal ruins Arsenal and Newcastle
Newcastle probably hate the existence of Man Utd at this point after the club beat them to Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko last summer.
Ederson wasn’t a target for them (would’ve been funny if he was!), but this deal for Andrey Santos brings normalcy again.
That is because minutes after Santos’ agreement with Man Utd was confirmed, it emerged that Bruno Guimaraes had asked to leave Newcastle.
Guimaraes wants to join Arsenal, and now that it’s out in the open, Newcastle will look for replacements.
They were linked with Santos, but United doing this deal quickly has already ruled out the soon-to-be Man Utd midfielder from the market.
Furthermore, now that Santos is off the market, Newcastle will make it even harder for Arsenal to get Guimaraes, probably raising his price further/blocking the move altogether.
In every scenario, Man Utd come out looking like geniuses.
Either Newcastle get more out of Arsenal, or they keep a publicly unhappy player on their books, just because their replacement target is off to Old Trafford.
Ineos have stemmed the leaks at Man Utd
The pace at which this deal for Santos has developed has proven one thing beyond doubt, which is that Ineos have stemmed the leaks at the club.
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From the first links emerging to the confirmation of an agreement, it took less than three days, which is a remarkable pace.
It proved that United had been working behind the scenes on this deal all along, and it only got out when it was all but done in the background.
This should fill Man Utd fans with confidence that Ineos are still doing the right thing, which is balancing financial responsibility with value in the market.
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