Manchester United's Midfield Gamble: Ince's Insights on Santos and Tielemans

Paul Ince has never been shy of an opinion, and on Manchester United’s latest midfield gamble he is crystal clear: the jury is still out.

United have spent the last two windows ripping up and rewriting the spine of their side. Last year, the focus was the attack: Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko arrived for around £200 million, a statement spend designed to jolt a misfiring frontline back to life.

This summer, the attention has swung to the middle of the pitch. Casemiro has gone, the hole he leaves both obvious and expensive. United circled Elliot Anderson, Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, only to watch Anderson walk into Manchester City’s dressing room and the other two head for Tottenham.

So the club pivoted. Fast.

£50m on Santos – and Ince is “baffled”

With options disappearing, United moved quickly for Chelsea’s Andrey Santos, agreeing a deal in the region of £50m for the 22-year-old Brazil international. On paper, it fits the new Old Trafford template: young, high ceiling, big fee.

Ince isn’t convinced.

“They’ve signed the lad Santos from Chelsea for £50m, which is a lot of money for someone like him. I think the jury’s still out on that one,” the former United and England midfielder told Oddschecker.

For a man who patrolled United’s midfield during the club’s rise under Sir Alex Ferguson, the logic jars – especially with Kobbie Mainoo emerging at speed.

“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 said.

United’s recruitment drive didn’t stop there. After stepping back from a move for Ederson, they turned to Youri Tielemans, triggering a £35m release clause to prise him from Aston Villa. Ince loves that bit of business.

“Obviously Tielemans I think is a fantastic player. More of a Fernandes type of player, but a very good player,” he said, while suggesting United are still trying to revive the Ederson deal with Atalanta.

What it leaves Michael Carrick with is a crowded, and suddenly expensive, midfield department – exactly what the club wanted, but not yet the finished article.

Mainoo’s next step

For Ince, the key to making sense of all these moving parts is simple: build around Mainoo.

“I think he’s the man who can play that role. I believe that, he’s got a really good head on his shoulders. He’s young, he’s got legs, he can keep hold of the ball.”

Ince has watched the teenager closely. At first, he saw a player doing the basics, almost too willingly.

“I always thought when Mainoo, when I watched him, he kind of did things easy, got it, passed it. When you play that role, and I’ve played that role for 20 years, you’ve got to do more than that,” he said. “You’ve got to get forward, get into the box, and take shots, he never really did that.”

Then something shifted towards the back end of last season. Mainoo started to bite into tackles, win duels, carry the ball, arrive in the box. He began to affect games rather than simply exist in them.

“Towards the back end of the season, he started to tackle, win balls, set things up, get himself in the box, make things happen. And he looks a completely different player.”

If that version of Mainoo reappears when the Premier League kicks off, Ince believes United will be in a far healthier place.

“So if he can repeat that form this season, then, you know, I think it’d be great for United. But they’ve got plenty of options in there. So it’ll be interesting to see which way Carrick goes.”

And that is the puzzle: Santos, Tielemans, potentially Ederson, Bruno Fernandes, Mainoo. A wealth of profiles, but only three shirts to hand out.

Rashford at a crossroads

Midfield isn’t the only delicate situation on Carrick’s desk. Marcus Rashford’s future continues to hang in the air, and Ince’s tone shifts when his name comes up.

“I kind of feel for Rashford. I really do because I think he’s a fantastic player,” he said.

Rashford’s loan spell at Barcelona last season reminded everyone – perhaps himself most of all – what he can be when the noise dies down. Out of favour under Ruben Amorim at United, he went to Spain, found rhythm, and looked liberated.

“He can play off the left, he can play off the right. I’m not sure if many people watched him last year playing for Barcelona, he was scoring goals, he was enjoying himself, and he looked a completely, completely different player.”

Then came the sting. Barcelona chose not to take him permanently and instead spent £75m on Anthony Gordon. For a player already wrestling with confidence and direction, that decision cut deep.

“It absolutely kills him,” Ince said.

There were flashes at the World Cup – that trademark dart from the left, the clean strike into the bottom corner – reminders of the natural talent that made Rashford the face of United’s new era only a couple of years ago.

“So he’s got that magic, he’s got that talent.”

Ince is adamant Carrick can be the manager to unlock it again, but only with clarity and care.

“I think Carrick can get the best out of him. I really, really do. I think if you just put your arm around Rashford… At the moment he’s a bit unsure of his future. He doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going.”

The solution, in Ince’s eyes, is brutally straightforward: a firm conversation, a clear plan, and trust.

“If Carrick just puts his arm around him and says, ‘Yeah, listen, you know, I want you at the club, I need you at the club. This is where you’re going to play. This is what you’re going to do.’ Then I believe you’re going to see a very, very good Rashford for Manchester United.”

For all the tactical talk, it comes down to mood.

“There’s one thing for sure, he is a very, very talented player and if he’s happy, he’ll perform for you.”

Carrick’s early tests

Carrick’s United have already tasted both ends of the pre-season spectrum. A 1-0 defeat to Wrexham in Helsinki raised eyebrows, even with the usual caveats about fitness and experimentation. The response was emphatic: a 5-0 dismantling of Rosenburg that hinted at what this side might look like when the pieces start to click.

Next up is Atletico Madrid in Stockholm, a very different kind of examination. After that, three more high-level friendlies – Paris Saint-Germain, Leeds United and AC Milan – will sharpen the edges before the Premier League curtain-raiser away to newly promoted Hull City on August 22.

By then, Carrick will have to do more than juggle names on a teamsheet. He will need to decide whether £50m Santos starts ahead of homegrown Mainoo, where Tielemans fits alongside Fernandes, whether an Ederson deal is worth forcing, and if Rashford is trusted as a cornerstone or eased to the fringes.

The money has been spent. The options are there. Now comes the real test: can Carrick turn this expensive, intriguing collection into a coherent Manchester United side that finally looks like itself again?