Andrey Santos Upgrade: Man Utd Should Have Signed Star Zidane Loves Instead

· GiveMeSport

Man Utd may have made a £50m transfer mistake.

Manchester United made bolstering their midfield a priority in the summer transfer window, and they splashed £150m to get the job done.

INEOS spent £35m to sign Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa in a surprise deal, and he has become a key member of Michael Carrick's team, starting every game so far this season. The marquee arrival was Brighton's Carlos Baleba, with United spending £70m on the Cameroon international, who is yet to make his debut due to an ankle injury.

But the board also made a big move to bring in Brazil international Andrey Santos from Chelsea for £48m plus a further £2m in add-ons, as they brought in a long-term target to replace the outgoing Casemiro.

Casemiro's departure at the end of his contract, plus the serious knee injury suffered by Manuel Ugarte, meant that United were in need of a more defensive-minded midfielder in the squad to help balance things out.

However, Santos has struggled so far this season for regular game time, and he hasn't taken his opportunities when he has been given them. The 22-year-old started in defeats against Hull City and Brighton, and has been restricted to just 42 minutes of action in his other appearances combined.

United's decision to go with potential over proven quality has backfired so far, with the team winning just two games in all competitions. But with the club having been looking at a number of different midfield options during the transfer window, they may now be regretting spending that £50m on Santos rather than someone more proven.

One of the many options that the clubs were keeping a close eye on was France international Manu Kone, and it now seems as though that may have been the better option.

Kone shone for France at the World Cup as Les Bleus finished fourth, and was expected to leave AS Roma as a result of his performances.

Man Utd held talks over getting a deal done, with Roma reportedly looking for around £50m, and personal terms reportedly not an issue. But the club opted against going ahead with the deal, and instead signed Baleba later in the window.

Kone stayed at Roma, despite late interest from Chelsea, and now he is set to become a key member of the France squad under Zinedine Zidane, who has given him the key responsibility in midfield to be the glue for his new-look side. That is a major compliment, and it feels like Man Utd may have missed a trick by not bringing him in when they had the chance.

While Santos is a different profile to what United have in midfield, he's easily a level below the other options currently. Mainoo and Tielemans are way ahead of him technically, while Baleba is by far the best defensive midfielder in the squad.

Kone would have been the perfect balance between all the profiles, and would bridge the gap between any combination perfectly. It's not as though he is untested either, with Patrick Vieira describing him as France's best midfielder during the World Cup.

> "He is for me today the best midfielder in France. I'd put him ahead of Tchaouameni and Rabiot, because he has this mobility, he is aggressive, he is a ball-winner, and he has the technical ability to be part of the build-up, has the facility with the ball to break lines and move forward."

> "I don't really like that word, water carrier. He will win the ball, but he has something more than the others, as he can play forward. Sometimes Tchouameni can give you a little bit of frustration, too many passes sideways or backwards, but he's got more passes going forward."

Having that level of quality available to him either from the start or off the bench may have been huge for Carrick to get Man Utd's season on track. While Santos has got quality, United are banking on him fulfilling his potential, rather than knowing what they have already.

Spending the £50m on Kone instead would have the squad in a much stronger place, but that isn't the case. Instead, United fans and staff will now have to watch him dominate the midfield for Zidane and France instead.

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