Andrey Santos swapping Chelsea for Manchester United was not a move many anticipated this summer, but the Brazilian has turned into Michael Carrick’s initial acquisition. The club was in urgent need of midfield additions, particularly following Casemiro’s exit and a serious injury to Manuel Ugarte, so the arrivals of Santos and Youri Tielemans will be greeted warmly by supporters.
Tielemans seems like an especially astute deal – he captains Belgium, has 244 Premier League outings to his name, and cost £35m – whereas Santos is a more unconventional pick. He frequently served as a backup at Chelsea last season while they ended up seven spots and 19 points adrift of United; he is a work in progress, and he competed for a direct rival. In the 13 years since Alex Ferguson stepped down, United have purchased only four players from fellow ‘big six’ clubs: Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic, Mason Mount (all from Chelsea) and Alexis Sánchez (from Arsenal).
Santos comes across as an unexpected addition, yet he might turn out to be a clever piece of business – even with a £48m fee. A large portion of United supporters will wish for him to partner with Kobbie Mainoo instead of threatening his place. Ruben Amorim repeatedly sidelined the academy graduate, but under Carrick, only Bruno Fernandes (1,679) and Luke Shaw (1,589) logged more minutes than Mainoo (1,503) among United’s outfield players.
Santos might actually be a more complete midfielder. Despite Mainoo’s technical gifts, he lacks certain defensive and physical attributes. Santos seems more alert defensively and possesses a stronger competitive edge, which could restore balance to the midfield if the two line up together. His primary asset, however, is his passing. He distributes the ball with assurance and precision, able to control the tempo with crisp short passes or propel the team forward with ambitious through balls. Santos is neat in confined areas and could inject more intricacy into United’s buildup.
Where he brings the greatest value is his knack for executing difficult passes. To be fair, Santos’s share of forward passes (25.7%) is not remarkable, but he knows the right moment to turn play towards goal. Indeed, among midfielders with a minimum of 900 minutes in the Premier League last season, only three completed a higher percentage of forward passes than Santos (80%).
His completion rate for passes into the final third (82.2%) is also notably high, placing him sixth among Premier League midfielders last term. His line-breaking deliveries are equally eye-catching; he averaged 8.1 per 90 minutes, leaving only 11 midfielders in the division ahead of him. Among those above him, Elliot Anderson (10.2) was the sole player aged 23 or under. Santos sat just behind Bruno Guimarães (8.6) and Martin Ødegaard (8.2). It is also worth noting that 14.2% of his passes in open play broke at least one defensive line, which put him joint 15th out of 91 midfielders who featured for more than 900 minutes.
The Brazilian can cut through from deep midfield areas, an aspect of Casemiro’s game that was often undervalued. Although Casemiro was more famous for his ball-winning, he could deliver incisive killer balls and early lofted passes behind the backline. United followers will expect Santos to pick up where his fellow countryman left off.
Much like Mainoo, Santos enjoys rapid, short interplay with those around him, which can help bypass a press or raise the pace. Last league season, he averaged a noteworthy 1.8 successful layoffs per 90 minutes, illustrating his worth as a link man and his composure in crowded areas. He connected on 89.9% of his passes – a mark bettered by only seven regular midfielders.
In deep areas where a misplaced pass can prove costly, he might be more dependable than Casemiro. Santos completed 86.5% of his passes under pressure last season, ranking 21st out of 94 midfielders who played 900 minutes or more in the top flight; Casemiro, by contrast, sat 67th with 80.4%. Casemiro’s overall pass completion of 81.3% also trailed Santos by some margin. Casemiro did attempt a much higher proportion of passes forward (35.7% to 25.7%), but the numbers hint that Santos can help United evade opposing pressure.
Santos will also be relied upon to bring some resilience when the team loses the ball. He isn’t the most physically dominant figure and doesn’t cover the ground with high intensity; his 53.7 pressures per 90 minutes last season saw him rank behind 63 other midfielders. United likely still require an energetic ball-carrier to allay transition fears, but he generally comes out on top in his individual contests: only three regular midfielders in the division last term boasted a superior duel success rate (62%).
Tielemans, at 29, is certainly a solution for the here and now, while Santos, only 22, offers considerable room to grow. After an impressive loan at Strasbourg – where he flourished as a box-to-box presence and was named in the Ligue 1 team of the season for 2024-25 – breaking past Enzo Fernández and Moisés Caicedo in Chelsea’s engine room was always a difficult task. He might not be the name United fans had in mind for this window, but he appears a thoughtful, sensible pick who could come to be regarded as a real coup for Carrick.
This feature was produced by Opta Analyst
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