Why Manchester United criticism over transfer gone wrong has just been debunked

Man Utd pulled out of an £85million deal for Mateus Fernandes and took a lot of criticism for doing so, but that stance has been justified.

Two weeks after deciding against spending £85million on Mateus Fernandes, Manchester United are set to splash out an almost identical sum to sign two midfielders.

United decided that committing all of that fee up-front to West Ham, as well as offering around £250,000-a-week in wages, wasn’t the best use of their resources and stepped away from any attempts to sign Fernandes.

Coming hot on the heels of missing out on Elliot Anderson, they copped plenty of criticism for that call, and it felt like their transfer window was in trouble. Their top two midfield targets had gone elsewhere by the end of June.

Those nerves have been settled now. Andrey Santos has signed a five-year deal after joining from Chelsea for £50million, and Youri Tielemans is set to follow with United in advanced talks to sign the Belgium international for £35million.

It certainly feels like United have got the best deal there. Fernandes is a player with plenty of talent, but he is still only 21, has just one cap for Portugal and has been relegated with Southampton and West Ham in successive seasons.

Tottenham have taken a punt on turning that potential into certified star quality, but you don’t get the sense that Fernandes is a difference-maker just yet. You could make the same argument over Santos, 22, but he is coming in considerably cheaper.

He struggled to break into the Chelsea side, but that is understandable when Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez are in front of him. He has already earned six caps for Brazil and fits the profile of the player United want, combining high-level technical ability with the strength and power to cover every blade of grass in midfield.