Kaua Santos has distanced himself from rumours that he could be set for a move to Manchester United, insisting he remains ‘entirely focused’ on Eintracht Frankfurt.
The young goalkeeper left Flamengo’s academy to join Eintracht in 2023 and went on to make his first senior appearance for the Bundesliga outfit in a 2-1 win over Wolfsburg last September.
But Santos suffered a cruciate ligament tear in Eintracht’s Europa League quarter-final second leg defeat to Tottenham and the serious knee injury brought the 22-year-old’s promising debut season to a premature end.
Now on the long road to recovery, the highly rated Brazilian is not expected to return to action until autumn at the earliest.
Despite being sidelined for the past two months, Santos has remained in the spotlight, with some of Europe’s elite clubs said to be plotting moves for the former Flamengo shot-stopper.
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Old Trafford has been mooted as a possible destination for Santos after United’s director of recruitment, Christopher Vivell, met with Eintracht’s chief Markus Krosche in April to discuss a proposed £51million deal.
The Red Devils are believed to have identified Santos as a potential target on the back of another unconvincing campaign for Ruben Amorim’s error-prone number one Andre Onana.
But when quizzed on United’s interest in a wide-ranging interview with German newspaper Die Welt, Santos stressed that he was not even thinking about leaving Eintracht.
‘The management at Eintracht Frankfurt have shown tremendous confidence in me,’ Santos said.
‘They wanted to continue working with me before these rumours even surfaced.
‘They still have a lot of faith in me here, so it was clear to me that I decided to extend my contract [last October].
‘I want to establish myself as a goalkeeper, perform well and achieve as much as possible.’
Asked if he had ambitions to lift major trophies with Eintracht, Santos replied: ‘Of course. If I compete, I want to win.
‘The club has shown repeatedly with the DFB Cup and Europa League victories, as well as with our Champions League qualification, that great things are possible here.
‘I want to help repeat such successes.’
United are not alone in tracking Santos’ progress, with Bayern Munich reportedly eyeing the youngster as a possible long-term successor for Manuel Neuer.
On these rumours, Santos said: ‘Manuel is a role model for every goalkeeper.
‘Every goalkeeper who comes along now has learned from him.
‘I’m not busy with anything else at the moment because my entire focus is on Eintracht Frankfurt.’
Santos picked out fellow countrymen, Alisson Becker and Ederson, as his two greatest inspirations in the modern game.
‘I especially look up to my two compatriots Alisson Becker and Ederson,’ he explained.
‘They’re among the best goalkeepers in the world and I watch a lot of videos of both of them.
‘With Alisson, I pay particular attention to his positioning and his behaviour in one-on-one duels with the strikers. I’ve improved a lot in that area since then.
‘Ederson is world-class on the ball. That’s why I’ve been watching how precisely he holds his foot when passing and the decisions he makes.’
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