Manchester United agree £50m deal to sign Andrey Santos from Chelsea
Andrey Santos is set for a Manchester United medical after the clubs agreed a fee, giving Michael Carrick another midfielder for his rebuild.
Jul 9, 2026
Manchester United have agreed a deal worth up to £50m to sign Andrey Santos from Chelsea, handing Michael Carrick another midfielder as his summer rebuild picks up pace. The Brazil international was given permission to travel for a medical after the clubs settled on a fee of £48m plus £2m in add-ons, with Chelsea keeping a 10 per cent sell-on clause.
Santos, 22, is set to sign a long-term contract at Old Trafford once the medical is complete. He joins a midfield that United have been reshaping since Casemiro left for Inter Miami earlier in the window.
Another piece for Carrick’s midfield
The move follows a clear pattern in United’s summer. Ederson arrived as Carrick’s first signing, and the club pushed hard for Sandro Tonali before he chose Tottenham in a club-record deal. Santos gives Carrick a different kind of option: a younger player comfortable both as a holding six and as a box-to-box eight, signed at an age that suits a squad being built for the next few years rather than patched for one.
With Casemiro gone, United needed legs and control in the centre, and Santos brings both. He has captained Brazil at youth level and worn the armband on loan at Strasbourg, and he carries the ball forward well under pressure. That range lets Carrick vary his shape without reaching for a like-for-like replacement every time.
Why Santos pushed to leave Chelsea
Game time drove the decision. Santos found the route into Chelsea’s crowded midfield blocked, with competition for the deeper roles as strong as anywhere in the league, and a standout loan at Strasbourg, where he scored 10 Ligue 1 goals from midfield, had already shown he was ready to play every week. Rather than wait for an opening that kept failing to arrive, he backed himself to start elsewhere.
For United, the appeal is obvious. They land a full Brazil international still short of his peak, on a fee that looks measured against the wider market, and they do it early enough to give him a full pre-season under Carrick. If the medical passes without a hitch, Santos will become the next name in a midfield that looks very different from the one that ended last season.