08 Jul 2026 17:33:52
Santos from Chelsea seems to be gathering pace.
I wouldn't mind him as a back up. But if reports are to be believed, the price tag is around £50m. That is utter madness. He's not even a regular for Chelsea.
And watch Chelsea replace him with a top midfielder with Utd's money.
World has gone mad.
08 Jul 2026 17:47:02
Sky Sports saying it's been agreed.
08 Jul 2026 17:49:45
Fee agreed according to Ornstein and others. So him and Ederson, any chance of one more in midfield?
08 Jul 2026 18:00:02
The perfect midfield rebuild!
08 Jul 2026 18:06:19
Why go for the best when you can have mediocrity.
08 Jul 2026 18:21:08
He's not mediocre. Whether he can step up and be as good as we need is what we will find out. I was talking to a Chelsea season ticket holder, who says he is a proper 7/10 performance player on a regular basis, rarely has a bad game, and sometimes is an 8 or 9, and that if Enzo went, he would probably be kept and take his place.
08 Jul 2026 18:24:47
It's embarrassing, really. They've had months to work on the transfer plans. And the best they can come up with is a bang-average Brazilian that United have been linked to for the last few years and a reserve player from Chelsea.
Bet City and Arsenal are really worried!
08 Jul 2026 18:30:46
He wasn't even on the list a couple of weeks ago.
Could have got stiller for the same sort of money, who is playing and not a bit-part player.
08 Jul 2026 18:11:02
Ed001, what do you think of the player? I remember you said earlier that you think he has potential if he were given a run of games.
Would he fit, and how does he compare to Elliot or Mateus (I know you weren't a big fan of the former)?
{Ed001's Note - I don't think he is yet at the level of Elliott Anderson, but he hasn't had the same trust in him from Chelsea that Anderson got from Forest. But he is better than Fernandez (Mateus obviously, not Bruno!) with a lot of potential to go further. I was actually hoping we (as in Liverpool) would go for him last summer and did mention him as someone I would take to strengthen midfield. I think he will be a good signing.}
08 Jul 2026 18:35:57
It will be the wages that make this palatable for the club. Can't imagine Santos, after two loans in France and one season at Chelsea, is on mega wages.
08 Jul 2026 19:14:58
Ah, come on Tris, the experts on here have already decided he's bang average. What do you know, eh?
{Ed001's Note - I am surprised how little he is rated. Maybe they didn't see any of his time at Strasbourg?}
08 Jul 2026 18:59:13
#Twenty
Do you even watch games or just go off based on what you see on twitter?
We should have gone for the best?
So that's Anderson for 130 and Fernandes for 85? And then what? Transfer window over because no more money left.
We need at least 5 signings this summer.
08 Jul 2026 20:03:36
Featured in over 40 games last season, young, with Premiership experience, wants more minutes, won't break the club's wage structure... I think our boys have done their homework and this could be a good signing in today's crazy market. It leaves financial room for more upgrades.
08 Jul 2026 20:14:33
Many here didn't want Lammens either because he wasn't famous enough.
08 Jul 2026 20:26:01
The problem is, United want to compete with the likes of City and Arsenal. They have come out saying they will win the league in 2028. But they are trying to compete with the European elite with the transfer policy of a mid table club.
Unfortunately, the best players cost the most money. Just because the club has been burnt before with big-money signings does not mean you just stop.
08 Jul 2026 21:38:34
Let's just hope it's not Chelsea getting their own back for Garnacho.
08 Jul 2026 21:55:27
H94, First of all, I watched every United game last season.
Secondly, what's the point in making five signings if they're just average? I'd rather we bought fewer players, but ones who genuinely improve the starting XI.
We probably have around £250-300 million to spend, and we've also freed up close to £1 million a week in wages with the players who've left.
Look at some of our previous transfer windows. We signed Fred, Donny van de Beek and Alex Telles. Long term, were any of them good enough? No. Do we still have them? No. Did we make money back on them? No. We had other higher profile targets that year. That's exactly the kind of spending that's held us back for years.
I'd rather see us spend £250 million strengthening the midfield, just like we focused heavily on the attack last summer.
A midfield of Bruno Fernandes, Aurelien Tchouameni and Alex Scott would transform the team and would have been in budget.
I'm not saying Andrey Santos or Ederson won't succeed if they sign, but they're much bigger risks, risks other top 4 clubs wouldn't make. If the club is serious about competing with Liverpool, Arsenal and City again, we need to start buying players at that level.
I don't see those clubs building a title-winning midfield by shopping for the cheapest options on the market or prioritising players because they'll accept lower wages. We've done that too many times before, and it hasn't worked.
08 Jul 2026 21:58:09
Buy cheap buy twice.
08 Jul 2026 22:37:21
Twenty, you are spot on. We should be splashing the cash to make sure we don't have to spend again next summer to replace the cheap signings this summer. We need to spend big like we did on Maguire, Pogba, Lukaku, Di Maria, Antony, Sancho, Hojlund, Mount, Martial, and Veron.
Oh, wait a minute. ?
08 Jul 2026 22:49:04
Will reserve judgement until both players have had a chance to settle in, but Santos and Ederson have all the makings of the next McFred.
If nothing else, it's a little underwhelming to go from being linked with the likes of Anderson, Tonali, and Tchouameni, to this, especially with Spurs, City, and (seemingly) Arsenal all bringing in Premier League proven players.
08 Jul 2026 23:08:19
Vivell has signed Santos twice. He clearly sees something in the player. After last season's transfers, I believe we need to give him the benefit of the doubt. If it doesn't work out, then we can call for Vivell's head and get Twenty and JSU in to steady the ship. Proper footballing men. ?
08 Jul 2026 23:16:59
Shrewd signing. Said it earlier in the week. Our "fans" hated Woodard for galactico signings, but in fact all they crave is household names.
08 Jul 2026 23:33:09
I don't understand why so many damn Santos, without actually having watched him properly and giving him a real chance to succeed. Patience is needed.
08 Jul 2026 23:39:00
Twenty, saying that Donny, Fred and Telles are the signings that held us back, is nuts.
Sancho, arguably Pogba, Antony, etc, are the signings that held us back. Each cost almost as much as the three you named combined!
As for Santos, he wouldn't have been my first choice, but he's good and he's young.
After last summer, I'm willing to trust the recruitment team to know better than me.
Ederson I'm happy about. I think he'll do well in this league. Hopefully, we'll still see one more midfielder, a LB, striker and a backup keeper.
09 Jul 2026 11:32:16
Until we've seen Santos and Ederson play at United, we have no idea. My main concern is the lack of experience, so hopefully that will be addressed, rather than ending up with a team full of potential and little proven quality.
Fingers crossed it transpires.
But, just because big signings have not all worked out previously, it is pretty stupid to think all will go that way. Plenty of potentials have not worked out either. Stop living in yesteryear.
09 Jul 2026 11:32:29
I'm going to wait and see. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Presumably the club will have done its due diligence via the data department on him.
Everyone on here knows we need more depth to face a much heavier schedule next season. We don't know what will be the extent of his role, nor what other signings will take place.
Ederson and Santos will add depth, but do not remove the possibility of another more glamorous signing in midfield. Santos is young and could well emerge as a real star. He's just at the age to make an impact, if given a chance (or, indeed, not).
The window is still open for 7 weeks. Relax.
09 Jul 2026 13:03:46
We said we would do what we needed to win the league, at no point did we ever say we will act like idiots as we have in the past. Frankly this is the last time I reply to twenty and full guy becisse they either don't watch football, are intern gasloghting trolls or genuinely thought better of those past clowns Woodward and murtough who paid through the nose for biggest price, salary and lowest attitudes and potential.
We won't get it right every time, no one does, but as we are now data driven and u emotional I trust data and cold hard facts to make decisions over people every day of the week
09 Jul 2026 13:21:42
They are entitled to their opinions.
They are uneducated opinions from guys who know nothing about the data or the detail. They know nothing about picking squads or teams. They have no practical experience they are not subject matter experts and their opinions mean nothing. You might as well as Doris the tea lady that's watched games her opinion as its just as relevant or irrelevant.
Just accept they are empty vessels just making noise on a subject matter they know nothing about.
Nobody knows how the signings will do. We just have to wait and see. If they do badly then people can comment on what they see but to write them off before they kick a ball is idiocy.
09 Jul 2026 13:42:13
Lol, ok! No one can argue the facts. There are proven Prem players who would be a little risk because of that, but the club don't want to spend the money or the wages to get them. So we aren't operating as a big club. Would Liverpool, Arsenal or City do that? No.
I'm definitely not saying the signings we are making won't work, but it's a risk. For example, if you went for Bruno G and Tonali, you are getting players that have played consistently, know the league, and have Champions League experience.
We didn't want to spend the money on Rice a while back; we def wouldn’t have paid what City paid for Anderson.
In the future, we will miss out on a lot of players because now we have a wage structure that we won't break. I'm pretty sure Spurs had a similar wage structure and were rigid about breaking it, and look where they were until this summer. Whether you like it or not, we are acting like a mid league club.
09 Jul 2026 14:29:57
Amusing when somebody has a different opinion, they are classified as "empty vessels who know nothing and don't even watch football." It is like having a discussion with a Trump supporter.
My opinion is just as valid as yours. You have no idea of my background or knowledge.
If you want to blindly follow whatever the club does with no questions, then that is your prerogative.
That doesn't mean I have to. I'm entitled to say what I think. Maybe these signings will turn out to be the next Xavi and Iniesta; maybe they won't. But I know where I'd put my money.
Let's see what your opinion is if the team sits in 15th place at Xmas.
If you want to live in a world where everybody says the same thing and never offers a different opinion, you might like North Korea.
09 Jul 2026 14:52:22
I'm here for everyone's opinions. Sometimes hearing a different view can help all of us see things differently.
I want all players to succeed when they join us.
I'm confused, though I'm not blindly following the club's decisions. I'm pretty clearly against how the club operates.
09 Jul 2026 15:03:56
My response wasn't aimed at you, Twenty. Apologies.
09 Jul 2026 15:55:54
I guess after further reflection, my issue isn't necessarily the signing Ederson of Santos, it's more both being signed (assuming Ederson is confirmed at some point).
If it had been one or the other, alongside a top tier midfielder, then I would have understood it more.
Maybe that top tier midfielder is still to come. No idea who it would be, though.
I guess the best word to describe it would be "underwhelming".
09 Jul 2026 15:08:31
All opinions are just that they are not educated or coming from a place of knowledge. Don't get upset by opinions. If they were expert opinions then they would carry some weight.
You might as well pluck a person from the supermarket and ask their opinion on the national fiscal policy.
They may have an opinion on it but they would probably say themselves they don't really know what their talking about. Just like you on footballers.
09 Jul 2026 16:28:58
Twenty, it would be nice if you could share the apparent list so we know who else is on it and who isn't ;)
09 Jul 2026 18:06:27
As my Grandad says, opinions are like ....holes. Everybody has one, and more often than not, they're full of ....
I'm not saying I am right or someone else is wrong. It would just be nice if we could just all sit on the sunny side of the bus until we get burnt. New season, new bus.
09 Jul 2026 18:09:41
#Twenty,
This summer it's about quality and quantity.
We need more players because we will play way more games and our squad is already injury prone.
3 signings would mean nothing to us.
Sad but it's our reality.
Remember how we played last season when we had two games per week?
And very expensive signings rarely work for us.
09 Jul 2026 17:56:10
List?
09 Jul 2026 18:33:51
Why is it, Ken, you are so condescending to people's opinions, and then do it in a way that makes your opinion seem the most important and the most experienced? You have no way of knowing who they are, yet you still do it every time.
Just because you disagree with their opinions does not make them wrong or stupid or numpties.
Bad as the ones who block people cos they only want to hear nice things.....
09 Jul 2026 19:38:03
JSU, I think the negativity of the opinions is what's irritating. So many are suggesting our business has been poor or underwhelming. For what reason? Objectively, there isn't a huge difference between Santos and Fernandes - either on reputation, raw stats or on appearances - but one cost significantly more than the other. Frankly, I think Ken is being kind.