Man Utd agree deal with Chelsea for Brazilian midfielder Andre Santos

Manchester United have agreed a £50million deal with Chelsea for their Brazilian midfielder Andre Santos.

The deal has progressed rapidly in the past few hours after United expressed their initial interest at the weekend.

United will pay an initial £48m for Santos, with an additional £2m in what are described as ‘affordable’ add-ons. Chelsea also negotiated a 10% sell-on clause.

Santos has been cleared for treatment, along with fellow countrymen Ederson There was also supposed to be one before the Italian side completed his £35m move from Atalanta after Brazil’s exit from the World Cup.

The news comes in part as United’s senior players prepare to return to pre-season training on Thursday and deal with what is becoming a major problem.

United have prioritized central midfield this summer following the departure of Casemiro when the veteran’s Real Madrid contract expired. Manuel Ugarte Was supposed to be sold but the Uruguay international has been ruled out for an extended period due to cruciate knee ligament damage.

However, their hopes of signing Elliott Anderson from Nottingham Forest were dashed when it became clear that it would cost more than £110 million.

United turned their attention to West Ham’s Mateus Fernandez but he joined Tottenham instead after the north London side offered an £85m guarantee.

With Kobi Mainu still at the World Cup with England, United faced their pre-season opener against Wrexham in Helsinki on July 18 and Mason Mount was the only recognized senior midfielder in Michael Carrick’s squad.

Santos is set to be Chelsea’s third major departure of the summer after Mark Cukurella was sold to Real Madrid and Tyreek George moved to Everton.