Manchester United signed two midfielders who were ‘a long way down their list’ as part of their summer recruitment drive.
After finishing third and sealing their return to the Champions League last season, United had high hopes for the summer transfer window having rebuilt their attacking options the previous year.
The focus in the summer was on midfield, tasked with filling the void left by Casemiro. The Brazilian played a crucial role as United improved under Michael Carrick in the 2025-26 season but left the club when his contract expired.
United’s first choice midfielder was Elliot Anderson but his preference was a move to Manchester City months before the move was made official.
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United were also wary of being dragged into a bidding war with their neighbours with City eventually paying Nottingham Forest £116million for the England international.
It was a similar story with Mateus Fernandes, with United ending their interest as Tottenham swooped to sign the Portuguese midfielder from West Ham. United were also eager to sign Aurelien Tchouameni from Real Madrid, another target that passed them by.
After missing out on Anderson and Fernandes, United turned their attention to Andrey Santos, signing him from Chelsea in a £48million deal.
A few days later, a deal was struck for Youri Tielemans, arriving from Aston Villa for £35m after his release clause was activated.
Carlos Baleba arrived late in the window for £70m from Brighton, making his debut against Tottenham at the weekend after an ankle injury.
United have endured their worst start to a season in 40 years, winning just one of their opening six Premier League games with their summer business already under the microscope.
Midfield was a key area but already there are worrying signs with The Sun reporting Santos and Tielemans were two targets that were ‘a long way down the list’ on players United wanted to bring in.
Tielemans has started all six of United’s Premier League games so far this season.
Santos meanwhile partnered him on the opening day of the season against Hull but has managed just 16 minutes of league game time since, failing to come off the bench in the last three.