What Man United deal for Andrey Santos after Mateus Fernandes stance tells us about their transfer strategy
Manchester United are set to sign Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos for £50m and the deal is further evidence of the new approach to transfers at Old Trafford.
Manchester United are set to sign Andrey Santos from Chelsea
What’s the difference between the equivalent of 14 full matches in the Premier League, and 66 games in England’s top division? According to Manchester United, it’s about £35million.
That is a crude way of explaining why they passed on £85million to sign Mateus Fernandes, 21, from West Ham, a player with 5,948 minutes in the Premier League, but were willing to sign Andrey Santos, 22, from Chelsea, for £50million, when his experience is just 1,262 minutes.
There is more going into it than that, of course. United weren’t willing to match Fernandes’ £250,000 a week contract offer from Spurs either, and Santos does have some good experience in Ligue 1, but there is no doubt the Brazilian has played less senior football than the Portuguese, who had become United’s top target in midfield after they missed out on Fernandes.
But while we can assess the merits of such a deal based on their Premier League experience and what we might have seen with our own eyes, United have deeper metrics to dig into players. So although Santos hasn’t got the same exposure as Fernandes, those in charge of recruitment at Old Trafford remain convinced they are on to a winner.
United have put a greater emphasis on data in their recruitment over the previous 18 months, and it paid off last summer. This is another bet on a player with limited experience, but one who passes the eye test as well as the numbers test for the club’s scouting department.
The reaction to the Santos deal has been interesting. Plenty of Chelsea supporters seem disappointed to be losing a player they clearly rated, but his status as someone who can’t get in the midfield of a team that finished 19 points worse off than United last season hasn’t exactly got people flocking to Old Trafford to celebrate either.
It’s worth bearing in mind that midfield is Chelsea’s strength, with Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez an excellent partnership, and that breaking that up is no easy feat. It’s also the case that the advanced data in the game can now help clubs spot players who may be undervalued by their current employers but could play a vital role elsewhere.
That is the bet United are making on Santos, who will get more game time at Old Trafford, especially in a season when they are in the Champions League and Chelsea aren’t even in Europe. The more he plays, the better he should become, in theory.
There will be pressure on Santos, however, as he makes the step up from Chelsea to Manchester United. He is the fourth midfielder to make that move in the last 13 years, after Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic and Mason Mount, and results have been mixed.
Santos has six caps for Brazil but, like fellow Old Trafford newcomer Ederson, wasn’t in the initial 26-man squad for this World Cup. Both players will feel they can force their way in to that set-up after another disappointing campaign.
They will also be tasked with helping United move on from countryman Casemiro. One more midfield signing is likely at this stage, but as it stands, Santos and Ederson will compete with Kobbie Mainoo for places in Michael Carrick’s side.
For Santos, this is an opportunity to show Chelsea what they were missing. United kept his name under wraps and quickly accelerated the deal. They like what they see, even if there hasn’t been much chance for others to see it.
The success of last summer’s recruitment has earned United a little faith in the market, and even if Santos isn’t setting pulses racing at the moment, if he makes the kind of impact that Senne Lammens, Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko did, that will soon change.
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