Paul Ince 'baffled' by Manchester United's £50m transfer move

Manchester United’s transfer deal for Andrey Santos has ‘baffled’ Paul Ince (Picture: Getty)

Paul Ince has said the ‘jury’s still out’ on Andrey Santos and he is ‘baffled’ by Manchester United’s big-money transfer move for young midfielder .

United prioritised overhauling their misfiring attack last year, bringing in Matheus Cunha , Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko for a combined fee of around £200million.

This summer, the Red Devils’ have focused their attentions on bolstering their midfield options, with Casemiro’s recent departure only intensifying the club’s need for reinforcements in this area.

United had expressed a strong interest in Elliot Anderson , Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, but the the former would join bitter rivals Manchester City instead, before the latter pair signed for Tottenham.

The Old Trafford giants subsequently turned their attentions to Chelsea’s Santos, moving quickly with their pursuit to wrap up a deal worth in the region of £50million for the 22-year-old Brazil international.

After backtracking on a proposed move for Santos’ fellow countryman Ederson , United fixed their gaze Youri Tielemans, prising the Belgian away from Aston Villa by triggering a £35m release clause in his contract .

‘I think when you look at what Manchester United are trying to do, they obviously need to strengthen in that area,’ ex-United and England midfielder Ince told Oddschecker .

Santos joined United in a deal worth around £50m (Picture: Getty)

The Brazilian made just 13 league starts for Chelsea (Picture: Getty)

‘Whether [Manuel] Ugarte comes back, I don’t know, but they’ve signed the lad Santos from Chelsea for £50m, which is a lot of money for someone like him. I think the jury’s still out on that one.

‘So to spend £50m on a young central midfield player when you’ve got [Kobbie] Mainoo coming through the ranks, kind of baffled me a bit.

‘Obviously Tielemans I think is a fantastic player. More of a Fernandes type of player, but a very good player. I still think they’re trying to do the Ederson deal from Atalanta.

‘So, they’ve got a whole load of midfield players in that position which needed to be strengthened.

‘I think he’s [Mainoo] the man who can play that role. I believe that, he’s got a really good head on his shoulders. He’s young, he’s got legs, he can keep hold of the ball.’

Carrick took over as United’s permanent head coach this summer (Picture: Getty)

Ince is intrigued about how Michael Carrick sets up his midfield next season and hopes to see Kobbie Mainoo thrive on the back of an immensely disappointing World Cup with England.

He added: ‘I like Tielemans, I think Tielemans is more of a [Bruno] Fernandes type of player. I like Ederson, I think Ederson was brilliant. And the fact that United are in the Champions League, they need to start building a stronger squad.”

‘I always thought when Mainoo, when I watched him, he kind of did things easy, got it, passed it. When you play that role, and I’ve played that role for 20 years you’ve got to do more than that.

Mainoo didn’t play a single minute for England at this year’s World Cup (Picture: Reuters)

‘You’ve got to get forward, get into the box, and take shots, he never, never really did that.

‘He just did the simple things. Towards the back end of the season, he started to tackle, win balls, set things up, get himself in the box, make things happen. And he looks a completely different player.

‘So if he can repeat that form this season, then, you know, I think it’d be great for United. But they’ve got plenty of options in there. So it’ll be interesting to see which way Carrick goes.’

Among the other hot topics of conversation at the Theatre of Dreams this summer has been the future of Marcus Rashford.

The England international enjoyed a productive loan spell with Barcelona last season, having fallen out of favour under Ruben Amorim, and there are reports Carrick is willing to give him an opportunity to resurrect his United career .

Given Rashford’s undoubted talent, Ince has his ‘fingers crossed’ that the situation resolves itself in due course.

Rashford registered 14 goals and 14 assists for Barcelona last season (Picture: Getty)

‘I kind of feel for Rashford. I really do because I think he’s a fantastic player,’ he said.

‘He can, play off the left, he can play off the right. I’m not sure if many people watched him last year playing for Barcelona, he was scoring goals, he was enjoying himself, and he looked a completely, completely different player.

‘And then when you think are they [Barcelona] going to take him, are they going to take the deal? And then to go and buy Gordon for 75 million. It absolutely kills him.

Rashford’s future remains uncertain (Picture: Getty)

‘Then you see little bits in the World Cup , gets his great goal coming off the left, bottom hand corner. So he’s got that magic, he’s got that talent.”

‘And I think Carrick can get the best out of him. I really, really do. I think if you just put your arm around Rashford, and I think at the moment he’s a bit unsure of his future. He doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going.

‘If Carrick just puts his arm around him and says, “Yeah, listen, you know, I want you at the club, I need you at the club. This is where you’re going to play. This is what you’re going to do.” Then I believe you’re going to see a very, very good Rashford for Manchester United.

‘So, fingers crossed that’s the case. But it, there’s one thing for sure, he is a very, very talented player and if he’s happy, he’ll perform for you.’

United began their busy pre-season schedule with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Wrexham in Helsinki earlier this month.

The Red Devils roared back with an emphatic 5-0 victory over Rosenburg, though, and Carrick’s men will no doubt be looking to pick up where they left off when they lock horns with Atletico Madrid in Stockholm this weekend.

A trio of intriguing contests versus Paris Saint-Germain, Leeds United and AC Milan follow that in preparation for the new Premier League season, which begins away to newly promoted Hull City on August 22.