Paul Scholes questions Man Utd transfer move for £50m star

Paul Scholes has questioned Manchester United’s deal to sign Andrey Santos, suggesting the fanbase are unlikely be ‘excited’ by the midfielder’s impending arrival from Chelsea.

United have concentrated their efforts on strengthening in central midfield this summer, having splashed out in excess of £200million to overhaul the squad’s misfiring attack 12 months ago.

The recent exit of Casemiro has only created a larger void to fill in the middle of the park, and a whole host of high-profile names have been linked with moves to the Theatre of Dreams ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.

Widespread reports last month claimed the Red Devils had reached a verbal agreement to land Atalanta’s Ederson in a deal believed to be worth around £34m plus £3.8m in potential add-ons.

The 27-year-old is expected to put pen to paper on a four-year contract at the Theatre of Dreams with an option to extend his stay for an additional year.

And this week, a report from The Athletic’s David Ornstein indicated that United had also struck a £50m deal to sign Santos from Chelsea, not content with just one Brazilian midfielder to replace the departed Casemiro.

It’s understood Santos had agreed personal terms ahead of the proposed move and the 22-year-old has been granted permission to undergo a medical in the north west.

But after a whirlwind few days for United in the transfer market, club legend Scholes has been left a little underwhelmed.

Giving his thoughts on United’s deal for Santos on The Good, The Bad & The Football, Scholes said: ‘I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of excitement about it is there? Put it that way.

‘Why are Chelsea selling him, a 22-year-old kid?

‘Who else is around now, though, who they can get? [Sandro Tonali has gone [to Tottenham].’

‘[Bruno] Guimaraes, who is a really good player, I still don’t think he would have suited Manchester United legs-wise, but it looks like he wants to go to Arsenal.’

Scholes name-checked Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton as a potential signing for United, adding: ‘I suppose he could be a possibility.

‘I think he’s still a good player a will be available at the right price.

‘They’ve got to do something.’

Scholes doubts Michael Carrick will have had much involvement in transfer discussions and believes Santos’ arrival may point towards a more profit-led approach to recruitment from Old Trafford bosses.

‘Ultimately, with Manchester United especially, it will be the fellas at the top of the club who would be deciding [targets],’ the former and United and England midfielder explained.

‘And I think they might see some value in this player [Andrey Santos] as a sellable [asset]. But Manchester United buying players as a sell-on value? We need players for now.

‘We’ve got the Champions League next year, we’ve got three games a week. It’s going to be awful without these players.’

Another hot topic of conversation amongst United supporters this summer has been Rashford, who spent last season on loan at Barcelona following an ugly falling out with Ruben Amorim.

The latest reports suggest the England forward could be given a opportunity to turn his Old Trafford career around after positive talks with club officials – but Scholes has his doubts.

‘I think it’s only Michael [Carrick] that can do it, it’s only Michael,’ he said of Rashford’s possible return to the fold.

‘It very rarely happens when a big player, like Marcus, goes to a big club on loan for a year, two years, whatever it is, they very rarely come back and play for the team.

‘If anybody can get someone right then I think it would be Michael Carrick.’

According to Scholes, Rashford’s United career began to go downhill when he began to ‘get really lazy’ while neglecting his defensive responsibilities.

‘I think the problem with Marcus is that he got influenced a bit by what Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi did,’ he added.

‘I know that sounds a bit weird because it’s those two but I think he got really lazy out of possession and he thought, “I’m that good”, and going forward he is that good.

‘He can beat people, he can score goals, almost the way Kylian Mbappe does really. I know it’s stupid, again, to put him on that level but he won’t run back anymore.

‘I think we’ve seen that with England games. United winger cannot do that. Going back through the years, they have to be up and down, up and down

‘I think it’s the same with a lot of wide players. They watch Ronaldo and Messi and what they’ve done to the game in sensational, but they don’t do the other side of it.

‘Now, when you’re not as good as them, you’ve still got to do that, and that side of it will put Michael off [Rashford] because you’re not in possession of the ball all the time. But Marcus has got that ability to actually destroy teams.’

The man who forced Rashford out in the first place, Amorim, also made headlines this week as he delivered his first press conference since being appointed as AC Milan’s new manager.

The Portuguese admitted he had made a series of errors during his spell in charge of United, while passing on his apologies to supporters that he had not properly addressed them sooner.

However, Scholes felt there was some venom in the message considering how the final few months of his Old Trafford tenure panned out.

‘He had a little pop in his line where he said, “I’ve made mistakes at United but I need to give context to what was going on at the club”, and he’ll be mourning how the club was run, like every manager has done,’ Scholes said.

‘He always spoke well, didn’t he? He wanted out.

‘He’s got to take some experience with him to AC Milan. I think that was a big mistake at Manchester United, they never took anybody around him.

‘It’s like they came and they were like a different group of people and didn’t really want to get involved with anybody else from the club.

‘Now, AC Milan is just as big, AC Milan is massive. If he gets that wrong again then he won’t last very long.’

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