{"id":18630,"date":"2026-07-18T19:51:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T19:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=18630"},"modified":"2026-07-18T19:51:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T19:51:19","slug":"mark-goldbridge-on-the-fence-over-former-chelsea-star-andrey-santos-man-united-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=18630","title":{"rendered":"Mark Goldbridge on the fence over former Chelsea star Andrey Santos&#8217; Man United debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-377588\">\n<div class=\"article-follow\">\n<div class=\"article-sharing google-follow\">  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"28\" height=\"28\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/wp-content\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/google-discover.svg\" alt=\"\"\/> <span>Add as preferred source on Google<\/span>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Mark Goldbridge didn\u2019t get carried away in his assessment of Andrey Santos\u2019 performance following the former Chelsea man\u2019s Manchester United debut.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p id=\"p-rc_92e011c89e131f38-33\">Andrey Santos swapped Stamford Bridge for Old Trafford, completing a permanent \u00a350 million transfer to Manchester United. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-grvmedia-grv-video GRVMultiVideo\"\/>\n<p id=\"p-rc_92e011c89e131f38-33\">And the Brazilian midfielder didn\u2019t have to wait long to get his first taste of action, making his United debut in a pre-season friendly against Wrexham in Helsinki.<\/p>\n<p id=\"p-rc_92e011c89e131f38-34\">The early signs have the United fanbase genuinely excited. Supporters are already claiming Chelsea have been \u2018scammed\u2019 for Santos, praising his composure and awareness on the pitch.<\/p>\n<p id=\"p-rc_92e011c89e131f38-34\">This certainly won\u2019t help the mood around Chelsea, with supporters not best pleased after hearing the news of Santos leaving the club. <\/p>\n<section class=\"grv-talking-point\" data-trigger=\"vue-sidebar\" data-story-id=\"5a9c74ee-9dfb-4c17-80a3-f12c2bcadb5e\" data-story-name=\"Talk Chelsea\" data-comment-id=\"4c81a0ad-5bd1-4a26-97d2-2d33a0cfd69f\" data-story-slug=\"talk-chelsea\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__inner\">\n<header class=\"grv-talking-point__header\">  <\/header>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__content\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__cta\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-wrap\">\n<p><h3 class=\"grv-talking-point__title\">Is it too early to say Chelsea have made a mistake selling Andrey Santos?\ud83d\ude2c<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__embed\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/long-form-stat-graphic-4-819x1024.png\" alt=\"Andrey Santos' stats for Man United v Wrexham\" class=\"wp-image-377594\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/long-form-stat-graphic-4-819x1024.png 819w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/long-form-stat-graphic-4-240x300.png 240w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/long-form-stat-graphic-4-768x960.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/long-form-stat-graphic-4-912x1140.png 912w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/long-form-stat-graphic-4-600x750.png 600w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/long-form-stat-graphic-4.png 1080w\"\/><\/div><figcaption title=\"HELSINKI, FINLAND - JULY 18:  Andrey Santos of Manchester United in action during the pre-season friendly match between Manchester United and AFC Wrexham at Helsingin Olympiastadion on July 18, 2026 in Helsinki, Finland. (Photo by Ash Donelon\/Manchester United via Getty Images)\">Photo by Ash Donelon\/Manchester United via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>Mark Goldbridge is the go-to man for many Manchester United fans when it comes to watch-alongs, and he happened to give his review of Andrey Santos\u2019 45-minute display. <\/p>\n<p>Speaking on The United Stand YouTube channel, he had this to say.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSantos, I mean, I would almost say in relation to Santos, if he had been amazing, I wouldn\u2019t say he\u2019s amazing, and if he had been ****, I wouldn\u2019t say he\u2019s been ****.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think for a first 45-minute cameo, he wants the ball. That\u2019s a positive. He will put a tackle in. That\u2019s a positive. So Santos\u2019 performance doesn\u2019t worry me at all. We will have to see how it develops.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course, a decent 45 minutes against Wrexham doesn\u2019t really mean anything in the grand scheme of things for any Chelsea fans looking to see how he gets on. <\/p>\n<p>But you can\u2019t help but feel that the sight of Santos in a Manchester United shirt just feels wrong. <\/p>\n<div class=\"see-more-wrapper lazy see-more-open see-more-blank extra-content\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/match-coverage\/mark-goldbridge-is-on-the-fence-over-former-chelsea-star-andrey-santos-man-united-debut\/none\" data-type=\"subscribe\">\n<div class=\"see-more subscribe\">\n<figure class=\"newsletter\">\n<div><svg class=\"loading\" width=\"118\" height=\"36\" viewbox=\"0 0 118 36\"><use href=\"#dots-svg\"\/><\/svg><\/p>\n<div class=\"signup\"><span class=\"hf\">Join Our Newsletter<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><script>grvLoadAnalytics = () => {(function(d,s,i){var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0),j=d.createElement(s);j.async=true;j.src=\"https:\/\/www.googletagmanager.com\/gtag\/js?id=\"+i;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(document,'script','G-E7VRWQHDP6');(function(d,s,i){if(!\/callback=in\/.test(window.location.search)){var e=d.createElement(s);var n=d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0);e.type=\"text\/javascript\";e.async=true;e.src=\"https:\/\/static.chartbeat.com\/js\/chartbeat.js\";n.parentNode.insertBefore(e,n);}})(document,\"script\",\"G-E7VRWQHDP6\");(function(){let s=document.createElement(\"script\");s.async=true;s.dataset.domain=\"thechelseachronicle.com\/MFj4XQ\";s.src=\"https:\/\/api.publytics.net\/js\/script.manual.ping.min.js\";document.getElementsByTagName(\"head\")(0).appendChild(s);})();if(!\/callback=in\/.test(window.location.search)){setTimeout(function(){!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');fbq('init','663509325503632');fbq('track','PageView');fbq('track','ViewContent',{content_name:'Mark Goldbridge on the fence over former Chelsea star Andrey Santos&#8217; Man United debut',content_category:'Match Coverage',content_ids:(377588,\"andrey-santos\"),content_type:'post',});},3000);}}<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Add as preferred source on Google Mark Goldbridge didn\u2019t get carried away in his assessment&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18630","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\/18630","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=18630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}