Scholes and Butt question value of United's £50m move for Andrey Santos

Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt have publicly questioned Manchester United’s £50m move for Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos, as manager Michael Carrick closes in on his first official signing since taking permanent charge at Old Trafford.

The Brazilian, who narrowly missed out on a place in his country’s 2026 World Cup squad, is understood to have already agreed personal terms with United. The deal accelerated rapidly this week, with the club determined not to lose another midfield target after Tottenham beat them to Mateus Fernandes — signed from West Ham for £85m — earlier in the summer.

Both Scholes and Butt, speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, expressed reservations about the investment. “Where’ve they seen him play enough games?” Scholes said. “United aren’t in the position to be buying players for the future at this point.”

Butt echoed the concern while acknowledging Santos’s potential. “He’s young and he’s for the future,” Butt said. “It’s a surprise because we’ve been looking at big hitters coming in, but we’re looking at his potential.” He added a sharper warning: “The big thing for me is if he’s been brought in to come and start for us, United and Carrick don’t have time to let people bed in.”

Scholes was equally blunt about the immediate pressure Santos will face. “At this point he’ll have to start — they’ve got nobody else.”

Santos arrived at Stamford Bridge as the first signing of Todd Boehly’s Chelsea ownership in January 2023, but his path to regular football was slow. He did not make his debut for the club until June 2025 in the Club World Cup, having spent time on loan at Nottingham Forest and RC Strasbourg. Last season — his first full campaign in England — the 22-year-old made 43 appearances for Chelsea across all competitions, though he was largely used as a rotational option under both Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior.

Former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole offered a more optimistic view of the transfer’s logic. “He’s a very, very good player with massive promise,” Cole said. “The unfortunate thing for Andrey is that the two positions he can play for Chelsea are taken by Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez. It’s been difficult for him to break in, but he’s been brilliant whenever he did play.”

Cole suggested Santos is likely to command significantly more game time at Old Trafford than he managed at Stamford Bridge, particularly following Casemiro’s departure from United’s midfield.