Paul Ince has questioned Manchester United’s big-money moves for Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba, claiming the funds may have been better spent in other areas of the pitch this summer.

Central midfield was identified as United’s main area of focus at the start of the transfer window, with the club signing Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo to strengthen their attack 12 months ago.

A host of high-profile midfielders were linked with possible moves to Old Trafford, including the likes of Elliot Anderson, Adam Wharton, Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes.

However, Anderson would snub interest from United to join neighbours Manchester City, while Wharton would stay put for another season at Crystal Palace.

Exclusive Premier League previews

Get ahead of the start of the season with our weekly football newsletter. Sign up now for free.

Tonali and Fernandes, meanwhile, would go on to complete moves to Tottenham from Newcastle and West Ham respectively, forcing the Red Devils to turn their attentions elsewhere in the transfer market.

This saw Chelsea’s Andrey Santos emerge as a top target and United worked swiftly to wrap up a deal for the 22-year-old Brazil international worth in the region of £50million.

Youri Tielemans followed suit in a £35m switch from Aston Villa, before Brighton star Baleba became the third new addition to Michael Carrick’s engine room for a fee of around £70m.

According to Ince, though, United may have been better of bolstering their options at full-back or up front.

‘I don’t understand why United would buy Santos for £50m and Baleba for £70m when they already have Mainoo,’ the ex-United and England midfielder told The Mirror.

‘I felt there might be other areas where the money could have been spent.

‘Perhaps in the full-back area or a striker to help them push for the top two or three.’

{“@context”:”https://schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Michael Carrick shares his feelings on Manchester United’s transfer results”,”contentUrl”:”https://videos.metro.co.uk/video/met/2026/09/05/8597952918240671422/480x270_MP4_8597952918240671422.mp4″,”description”:”Man Utd boss Michael Carrick speaks to the media ahead of his side’s match against Everton in the Premier League.”,”duration”:”T9M45S”,”height”:270,”thumbnailUrl”:”https://i.dailymail.com/1s/2026/09/05/10/111068347-0-image-a-153_1788601905140.jpg”,”uploadDate”:”2026-09-05T10:50:09+0100″,”width”:480}

Up Next

Previous Page

Next Page

window.addEventListener(‘metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded’, function(data) {
if (typeof(data.detail) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === ‘undefined’) {
return;
}
var player = data.detail.carousel.el_;
var container = player.closest(‘.metro-video-player’);
var placeholder = container.querySelector(‘.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder’);
if (placeholder) {
container.removeChild(placeholder);
container.classList.add(‘metro-video-player–related-videos-loaded’);
}
});

Ince is a big admirer of Mainoo and believes the young midfielder can go on to become a ‘very, very good’ player at the Theatre of Dreams.

However, he wants to see Mainoo take a more prominent role this season and believes the 21-year-old England international can add more layers to his game going forward.

‘With the greatest respect to Ipswich, if they are going to come to United and play open football, I could still do a job against them. It goes without saying that Kobbie has to do that week in, week out,’ Ince added.

‘And I want to see someone who takes control of the game. I don’t want to see someone who just gets the ball and passes it square or moves it on to Bruno Fernandes. I want to see someone who drives forward, who plays one-twos.

‘How many shots does he have in game? When I played I used to make sure I had at least three or four shots in a game. And, essentially, he is playing exactly the same role as I did.’

Ince went on: ‘There is more to his game than just passing it and letting the likes of Bruno and Cunha do their stuff. He can add a lot more to come. He can get more shots off.

‘He can drive with the ball. He’s got good feet, he’s got lovely feet. All the attributes he has got, he needs to start showing them more.

‘You’ve got be believe in how good you can be and not play the safety first football. Potentially, he is a very, very good player.’

Ince is intrigued to see how Marcus Rashford fares on his return to Manchester United following a season-long loan spell with Barcelona, where he won the La Liga title.

And while Rashford is yet to register a goal or an assist in United’s two opening matches against Hull and Ipswich, Ince feels he is Carrick’s ‘best option’ on the left flank.

‘A couple of years ago, I thought that Marcus needed a move away,’ the ex-England captain said.

‘I thought he needed a new challenge, looked a bit stale. He looked rejuvenated at Barcelona and looked back to somewhere close to his best form but then they signed Anthony Gordon.

‘He needs to play regularly now. I honestly think he is United’s best option on the left. It will be fascinating to see how he does now he is back.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Comment now
Comments

Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google
Add as preferred source