Manchester United's Midfield Dilemma: Ince on Santos and Mainoo
Paul Ince has never been shy of an opinion, and he is not buying the idea that Manchester United’s £50 million punt on Andrey Santos is a no‑brainer.
“The jury’s still out,” the former United and England midfielder warned, and he made no attempt to hide his surprise that a club with Kobbie Mainoo emerging at the heart of midfield has chosen to drop that kind of money on a 22-year-old still trying to prove himself at the top level.
A crowded, expensive midfield rebuild
United spent last summer tearing up their attack, throwing around £200m on Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko. This year, the surgery is in midfield.
Casemiro’s exit has ripped out experience and presence from the centre of the pitch. The response from Old Trafford has been aggressive: strong interest in Elliot Anderson, Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes came to nothing, with Anderson heading across town to Manchester City and the other two landing at Tottenham.
So United pivoted. Fast.
Attention swung to Chelsea’s Santos and a deal in the region of £50m was pushed through, a bold fee for a player still filed firmly under “potential” rather than “finished article”.
For Ince, that’s where the confusion starts.
“To spend £50m on a young central midfield player when you’ve got Mainoo coming through the ranks kind of baffled me a bit,” he told Oddschecker, underlining the sense that United might be paying top-end prices to solve a problem they already have an answer to in-house.
The spending did not stop with Santos. After backing away from a move for Ederson, United triggered a £35m release clause to pull Youri Tielemans out of Aston Villa. Ince loves that bit of business, calling Tielemans “a fantastic player” and likening him stylistically to Bruno Fernandes.
He still believes, though, that United are trying to revive the Ederson deal with Atalanta. If they succeed, Michael Carrick will walk into the new season with a glut of central midfielders, all signed to fix an area that clearly needed strengthening, but all jostling for similar spaces on the pitch.
Mainoo at the crossroads
Strip away the transfer noise and Ince’s focus keeps returning to one player: Kobbie Mainoo.
“I think he’s the man who can play that role,” Ince said. “He’s got a really good head on his shoulders. He’s young, he’s got legs, he can keep hold of the ball.”
The former United captain watched Mainoo closely last season and saw a shift. Early on, the teenager kept it neat and tidy, taking the safe option, moving the ball on. It was solid, but limited.
“When you play that role, and I’ve played that role for 20 years, you’ve got to do more than that,” Ince insisted. You have to break lines, join attacks, make tackles that change the tempo of a game.
Towards the end of the campaign, Mainoo started to do exactly that. He tackled with more intent, won duels, set up attacks, arrived in the box and took responsibility. The timid, simple passer began to look like a complete midfielder.
If he can carry that version of himself into this season, Ince believes United have something serious on their hands. The question is how Carrick fits him in among Santos, Tielemans, and any potential arrival like Ederson.
That tactical jigsaw will define United’s midfield identity under Carrick. Ince, for one, is watching closely.
Rashford, Barcelona and a career in limbo
Midfield isn’t the only debate raging around Old Trafford. Marcus Rashford’s future remains one of the most delicate topics of the summer.
Rashford spent last season on loan at Barcelona, rediscovering his touch and his smile after falling out of favour under Ruben Amorim. In Spain he scored, stretched defences and looked, in Ince’s words, “a completely, completely different player”.
Barcelona’s interest hung over his season. Would they take him permanently? Would United cash in? Then came the blow: the Catalan club turned to Anthony Gordon for £75m instead. For Rashford, that decision “absolutely kills him,” Ince said.
Even at a turbulent World Cup with England, flashes of the old Rashford cut through – the sharp movement from the left, the clean strike into the bottom corner. The talent is not in doubt. The direction of his career is.
“I kind of feel for Rashford,” Ince admitted. “I really do because I think he’s a fantastic player. He can play off the left, he can play off the right.”
Reports suggest Carrick is ready to give Rashford a fresh start and a clear role. Ince is convinced that clarity is exactly what the forward needs.
If Carrick puts an arm around him, spells out his position, his responsibilities, and his importance to the club, Ince believes United will see “a very, very good Rashford” again. The raw materials are still there. Confidence and certainty are the missing pieces.
“So, fingers crossed that’s the case,” he said, convinced that a happy Rashford will deliver.
Carrick’s early tests
The new era under Carrick has already flickered into life on the pitch. Pre-season opened with a jolt: a 1-0 defeat to Wrexham in Helsinki that underlined how much work remains.
United’s response was emphatic. A 5-0 demolition of Rosenborg steadied nerves and offered a glimpse of the attacking fluidity Carrick wants. The real examinations, though, are about to arrive.
Atletico Madrid await in Stockholm this weekend, a step up in intensity and organisation. Then comes a run of fixtures against Paris Saint-Germain, Leeds United and AC Milan – a trio of games that will stretch fitness, test combinations and, crucially, offer clues about how that expensive midfield will line up.
All of it builds towards August 22, when United open their Premier League campaign away to newly promoted Hull City. By then, Carrick must have answers: where Santos fits, how Mainoo develops, whether Tielemans partners or replaces Fernandes, and what version of Rashford he can coax back to life.
The money has been spent. The options are there. Now we find out whether this rebuild is coherent strategy or just another expensive shuffle of the deck.
