Paul Ince Questions £50m Andrey Santos Deal for Manchester United
Manchester United have spent the summer ripping up and rewriting the middle of their team. Paul Ince is not convinced they’ve got the script right.
The former United and England midfielder has questioned the club’s £50million move for Andrey Santos from Chelsea, insisting the “jury’s still out” on the 22-year-old Brazilian and wondering what the deal means for Kobbie Mainoo.
United, who threw close to £200m at their attack last year on Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, have turned the spotlight onto midfield after Casemiro’s departure. Targets came and went. Elliot Anderson chose Manchester City. Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes headed to Tottenham.
So United pivoted. Santos arrived from Chelsea for a hefty fee, and Youri Tielemans followed from Aston Villa after the club activated a £35m release clause. The spending has impressed plenty. Ince is not among them.
“They’ve signed the lad Santos from Chelsea for £50m, which is a lot of money for someone like him,” he told Oddschecker. “I think the jury’s still out on that one.
“So to spend £50m on a young central midfield player when you’ve got [Kobbie] Mainoo coming through the ranks kind of baffled me a bit.”
Ince likes the profile of Tielemans, seeing the Belgian as closer to Bruno Fernandes than a deep-lying controller, and believes United are still trying to prise Ederson from Atalanta. That cluster of names underlines how aggressively the club have gone after midfield reinforcements.
“They’ve got a whole load of midfield players in that position which needed to be strengthened,” he said. “Obviously Tielemans I think is a fantastic player. More of a Fernandes type of player, but a very good player. I still think they’re trying to do the Ederson deal from Atalanta.”
For Ince, though, the key to the whole structure already lives in Carrington.
“I think he’s [Mainoo] the man who can play that role. I believe that, he’s got a really good head on his shoulders. He’s young, he’s got legs, he can keep hold of the ball.”
Mainoo’s next step under Carrick
Michael Carrick, stepping into his first full pre-season as United manager, must now juggle a crowded midfield. Ince is fascinated to see how the former club captain arranges his pieces and whether Mainoo is trusted at the base of it all, particularly after a bruising World Cup with England.
“I like Tielemans, I think Tielemans is more of a [Bruno] Fernandes type of player. I like Ederson, I think Ederson was brilliant,” Ince said. “And the fact that United are in the Champions League, they need to start building a stronger squad.”
Mainoo, in Ince’s eyes, has already started to grow into something more than a tidy passer.
“I always thought when Mainoo, when I watched him, he kind of did things easy, got it, passed it. When you play that role, and I’ve played that role for 20 years, you’ve got to do more than that.
“You’ve got to get forward, get into the box, and take shots, he never, never really did that.
“He just did the simple things. Towards the back end of the season, he started to tackle, win balls, set things up, get himself in the box, make things happen. And he looks a completely different player.
“So if he can repeat that form this season, then, you know, I think it’d be great for United. But they’ve got plenty of options in there. So it’ll be interesting to see which way Carrick goes.”
Rashford, Barcelona and a career at the crossroads
Midfield isn’t the only headache at Old Trafford. Marcus Rashford’s future has become another running theme of United’s summer.
The forward rebuilt his confidence on loan at Barcelona after falling out of favour under Ruben Amorim, scoring goals and rediscovering his spark in Spain. Reports now suggest Carrick wants to give him a clean slate and a genuine shot at reviving his United career.
Ince is desperate for that to happen.
“I kind of feel for Rashford. I really do because I think he’s a fantastic player,” he said. “He can play off the left, he can play off the right. I’m not sure if many people watched him last year playing for Barcelona, he was scoring goals, he was enjoying himself, and he looked a completely, completely different player.
“And then when you think are they [Barcelona] going to take him, are they going to take the deal? And then to go and buy Gordon for 75 million. It absolutely kills him.”
Rashford still flashed his old brilliance on the biggest stage, cutting in from the left to score at the World Cup, a reminder of the talent that first lit up Old Trafford.
“Then you see little bits in the World Cup, gets his great goal coming off the left, bottom hand corner. So he’s got that magic, he’s got that talent,” Ince said.
He believes Carrick’s man-management could be decisive.
“And I think Carrick can get the best out of him. I really, really do. I think if you just put your arm around Rashford, and I think at the moment he’s a bit unsure of his future. He doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going.
“If Carrick just puts his arm around him and says, ‘Yeah, listen, you know, I want you at the club, I need you at the club. This is where you’re going to play. This is what you’re going to do.’ Then I believe you’re going to see a very, very good Rashford for Manchester United.
“So, fingers crossed that’s the case. But it, there’s one thing for sure, he is a very, very talented player and if he’s happy, he’ll perform for you.”
Mixed pre-season, heavy schedule, big questions
On the pitch, Carrick’s United have already offered both warning signs and encouragement. A 1-0 defeat to Wrexham in Helsinki opened their pre-season with a jolt. The response was emphatic: a 5-0 dismantling of Rosenborg, the kind of ruthless outing that hints at a higher attacking ceiling.
Next comes a sharper test against Atletico Madrid in Stockholm, followed by a trio of intriguing friendlies against Paris Saint-Germain, Leeds United and AC Milan. Then it gets real: a Premier League opener away to newly promoted Hull City on August 22.
By then, Carrick must have settled the shape of his midfield, worked out how to integrate Santos and Tielemans, decided whether to push for Ederson – and, crucially, chosen how much trust to place in Mainoo.
He must also make a clear call on Rashford, a player Ince believes can still transform games if he feels wanted and understood.
United have spent big, stocked up and talked about building a squad for the Champions League. Now comes the harder part: turning a bafflingly expensive collection of talent into a coherent team that actually looks like Manchester United.
