Carragher: Manchester United Missed Out on Mateus Fernandes
Jamie Carragher says Manchester United backed the wrong midfielder this summer – and should have gone all in on Mateus Fernandes instead of landing Youri Tielemans on the cheap.
United have reshaped Michael Carrick’s squad with six new arrivals and a clear emphasis on midfield. They pushed through a £35m deal with Aston Villa for Tielemans after a £43m move for Atalanta’s Ederson collapsed on medical grounds, and also paid £50m to bring in Andrey Santos from Chelsea.
But Carragher can’t shake the feeling that the real prize slipped away to north London.
Carragher: United blinked on Fernandes
Fernandes had been firmly on United’s radar earlier in the window, only for Tottenham to win the race by agreeing an £85m fee with West Ham United. United walked away from that number. Carragher thinks that was a mistake.
“I was a little bit worried when I saw United linked with Fernandes because I thought that could be a good signing,” he said on The Overlap Fan Debate.
“I just looked at him and his age and was surprised United didn't go for Fernandes. They said it was too expensive but was it that expensive?
“I know £85m is a lot but you’re never going to get a really top midfielder now for £50m.”
For Carragher, the market has moved. If you want the finished article at the right age, you pay elite money. United, in his eyes, tried to play it both ways.
Tielemans: bargain or wrong timing?
On paper, Tielemans looks like shrewd business. At 29, he arrives with 244 Premier League games behind him after spells with Leicester City and Villa, where he landed on a free in 2023 following Leicester’s relegation.
John Obi Mikel has already called him the “signing of the season”. Ben Foster has echoed that. Both see a complete midfielder at a cut price.
“For me, it's Youri Tielemans. Honestly... how the f*** did Manchester United get him for £35million? That's a f****** steal,” Obi Mikel said.
He raved about Tielemans’ versatility: able to play as a six, eight or 10, dangerous from set pieces, secure in possession, intelligent on and off the ball. The only knock? He’s not the quickest. But Mikel insists his reading of the game more than compensates.
“When I look at all the midfielders that have transferred to different clubs [this summer], the best one is Tielemans,” he added.
Foster went just as strong.
“I still think Youri Tielemans is the signing of the summer so far. What a bit of business that is,” the former United goalkeeper said. “For £35million, he is a ready-made, good to go, starting 11 player and I think if you can spend that money on a starter, it is worth every single penny.”
Carragher, though, sees a different picture.
“The wrong way round”
His doubts aren’t about Tielemans’ quality. They’re about timing, stature and what a club like United should be buying at this stage of a rebuild.
“The thing with Tielemans, I was watching the Super Cup and I'd just seen that Man United were on ITV playing Leeds, so I put it on,” Carragher explained.
“It just came to me a little bit – Tielemans was taking a corner, and it come to me, he's a good player, don’t get me wrong.
“But you'd almost feel like he should have been at United a few years ago, then gone to Villa – not being at Villa, then gone to United.
“I'm not saying he's had his best days, but it almost felt like the wrong way round. The last three years should have been at United, and then he gets sold to Villa.”
That line cuts to the heart of his argument. Tielemans, in Carragher’s mind, represents a player United once would have signed at his peak, not one they’d pick up after a free transfer and a season at Villa Park.
Fernandes, by contrast, fits the profile of the big, prime-age statement buy that Tottenham were willing to fund and United were not.
Carrick now has Tielemans and Santos to reshape his midfield. The question that will hang over this window is simple: did United secure a masterstroke at £35m, as Mikel and Foster insist, or did they flinch at £85m and let their true long-term anchor slip away?
