\n<\/p>\n
\t\t\t14<\/i><\/p>\n
While Manchester United\u2019s pursuit of Andrey Santos may feel like a last-minute pivot, Fabrizio Romano reveals the Chelsea midfielder has long been on the radar at Old Trafford, with the Red Devils having an inside track to seal a deal.<\/p>\n
United made advances to sign Santos, 22, last summer when negotiating Alejandro Garnacho\u2019s switch to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were adamant the Brazil international was not for sale, however, with a \u00a340 million agreement eventually struck for Garnacho rather than any kind of swap deal.<\/p>\n
Wisely, United included a 10% sell-on clause, which looks set to pay dividends as the Blues are prepared to sell the Argentine winger for up to \u00a390m this summer amid growing interest from the Saudi Pro League.<\/p>\n
But the interest in Santos did not waver during this time, with Romano revealing United executives held two meetings with his agent, Giuliano Bertolucci, earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Andrey Santos, they had a contact with the agent of the player, and it\u2019s not the first contact because it\u2019s something that started long time ago in February and in March. Man Utd had two meetings with Giuliano Bertolucci, the Brazilian agent who represents Andrey Santos, so there is a good feedback between Man Utd and Andrey Santos,\u201d he states on his YouTube channel.<\/p>\n
Following the setback of missing out on Mateus Fernandes to Tottenham Hotspur, fresh talks are understood to have been initiated with Bertolucci last week. Santos is keen to leave west London in search of more first-team opportunities, and would be open to joining United.<\/p>\n
Prior to arriving in M16 as recruitment director in July 2024, initially on an interim basis before being given the role permanently seven months later, Christopher Vivell worked at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n
The 38-year-old German was Chelsea\u2019s technical director from December 2022 until July 2023. One of the first signings the Blues made under his watch was a \u00a313 million deal with Brazilian side Vasco de Gama for Santos.<\/p>\n
Romano confirms Vivell knows the midfielder \u201cvery well\u201d, suggesting this as an explanation for why he is \u201cone of the names on the list\u201d at Old Trafford. A positive working relationship can often be key in agreeing a deal, hence why a recruitment specialist\u2019s network is as important as their eye for talent.<\/p>\n
Santos remains a highly rated player by Chelsea, but they will not stand in his way if a suitable offer arrives as he sits firmly behind Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez in the pecking order.<\/p>\n
The Blues are understood to value the Rio de Janeiro native at around the \u00a350 million mark. This would make him significantly cheaper than United\u2019s other targets, such as Alex Scott and Aurelien Tchouameni.<\/p>\n
Santos would represent an astute signing as a versatile midfielder with a strong blend of physical and technical attributes, who is looking to move this summer and is available at a reasonable price. But Manchester United are set to complete a deal for a player who ticks each of these boxes in Ederson, with the Atalanta enforcer now able to finalise his move to Old Trafford after Brazil\u2019s exit from the World Cup.<\/p>\n
The two compatriots offer broadly the same profile, with Santos\u2019 price a bit higher due to his age (22 vs 27) and Premier League experience. It feels like overkill to sign both, though the season-ending injury Manuel Ugarte suffered for Uruguay may necessitate more bodies in midfield than previously anticipated.<\/p>\n
Featured image Shaun Botterill via Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n The Peoples Person has been one of the world\u2019s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 14 While Manchester United\u2019s pursuit of Andrey Santos may feel like a last-minute pivot, Fabrizio…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}