Chelsea Sell Santos to Man United for £50m in Deal with 10% Sell-On Clause | OneFootball

Manchester United have agreed a deal with Chelsea to sign midfielder Andrey Santos for £48m plus £2m in add-ons, with Chelsea retaining a 10% sell-on clause – a structure relayed by BBC Sport journalist Simon Stone, citing The Athletic’s David Ornstein.

The fee makes Santos one of United’s more significant midfield investments in recent years. The deal’s architecture – a fixed £48m base, performance-related £2m, and a sell-on percentage – suggests Chelsea drove a hard negotiation and retained a meaningful stake in any future profit.

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Santos: The Profile

Santos is a 22-year-old Brazilian central midfielder who came through at Vasco da Gama before Chelsea signed him in January 2023. Loan spells at Vasco, Nottingham Forest, and Strasbourg followed as Chelsea managed his development before he established himself as a genuine first-team option at Stamford Bridge in 2025-26, making 43 appearances across all competitions and contributing to Chelsea’s FIFA Club World Cup win.

He can operate as a No.6 or a more dynamic No.8, combining ball-winning instincts with progressive passing – exactly the profile United’s midfield rebuild demands. His Chelsea contract ran to 2030, which gave the London club ample leverage and goes a long way to explaining why the fee sits where it does.

Fitting the Rebuild

United’s stated priority this summer has been midfield reinforcement, and Santos represents the more creative, press-resistant element of that plan. He arrives alongside the confirmed signing of Ederson from Atalanta, the two Brazilians set to give United’s engine room an entirely different complexion heading into next season.

Chelsea had previously rejected bids from West Ham and Saudi club Al Qadsiah, with offers reported in the €50–70m range, underscoring how highly they valued Santos and explaining why United needed to push well beyond those thresholds to secure a deal.

The next steps are the medical and the formalisation of Santos’ personal terms at Old Trafford. Once those are confirmed, attention turns to how Ruben Amorim intends to deploy him alongside Ederson – and whether one of them anchors the midfield while the other carries the ball forward.