Manchester United have turned their attentions to Chelsea’s Andrey Santos after missing out on Elliot Anderson and Mateus Fernandes in their search for midfielders.
They are considering a move for the Brazil international, who Chelsea value at around £50m.
United are short of available midfielders after Casemiro left Old Trafford and then Manuel Ugarte suffered a potentially serious injury at the World Cup, leaving only Kobbie Mainoo who is fit.
They are set to seal a £35m move for Atalanta’s Ederson, another Brazil international, but are looking for at least one and possibly two more players in the centre of the pitch.
They were interested in Anderson, who will become the most expensive British player ever when his £116m move from Nottingham Forest to Manchester City goes through, and Fernandes, who has joined Tottenham for £85m from West Ham.
United have also looked at several other options, including Carlos Baleba of Brighton, Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton and Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni.
Santos has made 47 appearances for Chelsea since joining in 2023 and has had four loan spells elsewhere.
He started 13 league games last season but has been behind Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez in the queue for places, who are both likely to stay after Real took the rare step of denying they were interested in signing the Argentinian this summer.