Steven Gerrard believes Michael Carrick was ‘wrong’ to sign Andrey Santos as the former Chelsea midfielder is ‘not a Manchester United player’.
Santos has started just once of United’s six Premier League games so far this season following his £50m move from Chelsea over the summer.
The Brazil international made 47 appearances for Chelsea before emerging as a somewhat surprising transfer target for Red Devils boss Carrick.
Manchester United were desperate for midfield reinforcements following Casemiro’s departure and turned to Santos after missing out on Elliot Anderson, Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes.
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But Gerrard doubts Santos will help fix United’s midfield issues, claiming he is ‘not world-class’ and will be ‘found out’ playing against the best teams in England and Europe.
‘I’m not sure Andrey Santos was the right signing for Manchester United at £50m,’ Gerrard said on The Overlap, sponsored by Sky Bet.
‘I just think to play in Manchester United’s midfield every single game, every single weekend, you’d expect to compete for the Premier League and the Champions League.
‘Forget the other cups, because obviously you try and win them as you go along, but the priority is the league and the Champions League. That has been for decades, from whatever I’ve known and competed against United.
‘Your midfield players have got to be world-class, they’ve got to be world-class, they’ve got to be consistently world-class, because when it comes to the business end, you’re going to be competing against, if you go to Arsenal, Declan Rice, for example, he’s creeping into that level, and Martin Odegaard, they’re world-level players.
‘Liverpool, maybe not right now, but when they were challenging for the league, Fabinho, Georginio Wijnaldum, that level of player.
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‘Manchester United need world-class midfielders, potential ones, or ones that are already ready to play at that level.
‘I think (Kobbie) Mainoo’s a really good player. He’s nowhere near that yet, nowhere near world level yet.
‘Santos, he’s a good player, but for me, he’s not a Manchester United player. To be consistent week in, week out and affect games, when it comes down to when the prizes are given out, or Champions League semi-finals, quarter-finals, I think he’d be found out against PSG. I think he’d be found out against the Real Madrid midfield, the Barcelona midfield.
‘I think he’s a bit short, in my opinion. (Youri) Tielemans is a good Premier League-level player. Bruno Fernandes is the one that’s world-class, but he’s alone in there in terms of that level.
‘I played against Michael Carrick, who was underestimated. He was a top, top player. Roy Keane was world-class. Paul Scholes was world-class. Ryan Giggs used to play in there sometimes, world-class. David Beckham could come in there, world-class. Wayne Rooney coming to overload the midfield, world-class.
‘Manchester United’s midfield is way off that level. It’s way off that level.’
Santos was an unused substitute in Manchester United’s deflating 1-1 draw with ten-man Tottenham on Saturday, a result that leaves Carrick’s side just 12th in the Premier League.
The Red Devils return to action in the Champions League on Tuesday night with a daunting trip to La Liga giants Atletico Madrid.
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