Manchester United's summer transfer window business is being questioned by Premier League rivals with Jason Wilcox under fire
Jason Wilcox continues to be scrutinised with Manchester United's Premier League rivals confused by their summer transfer window decisions
Jason Wilcox continues to be scrutinised with Manchester United's Premier League rivals confused by their summer transfer window decisions(Image: (Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images))
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Jason Wilcox remains firmly under the microscope with rivals reportedly of the belief summer signing Andrey Santos should have only cost £25million. Manchester United's director of football and other club chiefs ended up agreeing a deal with Chelsea for £50million to sign the Brazilian as one of three midfield arrivals this past summer.
Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba were the other additions which took United's spending to just over £150million. Bringing in three Premier League midfielders for that fee brought huge praise but all three have had challenging starts to the season.
Baleba joined from Brighton with an ankle injury and appeared to suffer a hamstring problem in the Champions League win over AS Roma. Tielemans' weaknesses, that Aston Villa managed to avoid exposing, have been evident at his new club while Michael Carrick does not seem to be the biggest fan of Santos.
The 22-year-old joined Chelsea in January 2023 but made just 47 senior appearances before joining United in July. Given his potential, and in an inflated market, the £50m fee appeared a good deal but it has since emerged that it was considered a great sale by Chelsea
That is according to The Athletic, who have claimed that some close to the Blues believe that he was only worth half of the £50million they received for his transfer.
Andrey Santos joined Manchester United in the summer
Andrey Santos joined Manchester United in the summer
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Their report adds that for United it was accurate for a market that had been inflated across the board and the signings made were key to add depth. There is also an argument that Santos and Baleba are at an age where they can still develop.
Elliot Anderson, Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes were other Premier League midfielders linked to United that joined other clubs. The latter duo both headed to Tottenham for a combined £185m while Anderson's move from Nottingham Forest to Manchester City set a new transfer record for an English player, albeit until Morgan Rogers joined Chelsea, at £116m.
United did not have the finances to commit such funds to one player with a return to the Champions League likely part of the thinking to go for quantity over quality.
Kobbie Mainoo has subsequently remained as Carrick's first-choice option in midfield and he is likely to be paired with Santos against Aston Villa on Sunday. It is already clear that he and Tielemans in the same midfield does not work and Baleba is likely to miss out through injury.
Speaking on the latter after he was helped off earlier this week, Carrick said: "I haven’t got any more news on Carlos at this stage, but it’s his hamstring. We’ll have to assess what that looks like, but initially, it doesn’t look great."
Carrick could still select Tielemans having deployed him in a more attacking midfield role to combat his lack of pace and mobility in deeper areas. That has seen Bruno Fernandes shunted out to the right before being dropped entirely.
He has since started recent games against Chelsea and Roma with his first goal since early September coming against the latter. He also put the cross in for Matheus Cunha's first goal while Shea Lacey played the pass for his winner.
Following a bright cameo off the bench, there are calls for the United youngster to start in place of Amad, who has managed just one assist since returning from injury last month.