Wayne Rooney says Michael Carrick ‘doesn’t fancy’ big-money Man Utd midfield signing
Wayne Rooney has said that Manchester United manager Michael Carrick does not seem to fancy Andrey Santos.
The former Man Utd forward made the comments in the wake of Man Utd suffering a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City at Old Trafford in the Premier League at the weekend.
Erling Haaland scored the only goal of the match on the hour mark on Sunday, as Man City picked up all three points from the Manchester derby despite losing Phil Foden to a controversial red card midway through the first half.
During the match, Man Utd manager Carrick made only two substitutions – Benjamin Sesko for Youri Tielemans on 67 minutes and Joshua Zirkzee for Marcus Rashford after 83 minutes.
Santos, who joined Man Utd from Chelsea for a total of £50million in the summer transfer window, was an unused substitute.
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The 22-year-old Brazil international midfielder has played only 83 minutes in the Premier League for Man Utd so far this season.
Santos came on as a substitute for Man Utd against Sabah at Old Trafford in the Champions League last week, as the Premier League giants won 4-0.
Wayne Rooney on Man Utd midfielder Andrey Santos
Rooney said on The United Stand: “What I don’t understand is, so we signed Tielemans, we signed Santos, then we signed Baleba, who I think is a good signing, Baleba, when he gets on the pitch.
“But then you have got Santos on the bench.
“So then, when Baleba is fit, is Tielemans going to go to the bench? Is Mainoo going to go to the bench?
“Is Baleba going to sit on the bench?
“Then you have got two players you have brought in or one of your younger players who there’s so many high hopes for and probably being Utd’s best player over the last couple of games in Mainoo sitting on the bench, when, if that’s the case if Carrick doesn’t fancy Santos or for whatever reason that signing has been made, then why was that money not used on full-backs or another striker which is so clear the club needed.”
It has been a disappointing start to the new Premier League season for Man Utd, who have picked up just four points from four matches.
However, Man Utd co-owners INEOS have no plans to sack Carrick as their manager anytime soon, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Romano said on his YouTube channel: “Man Utd absolutely remain convinced that the future will be bright under Michael Carrick.
“Manchester United absolutely know that maybe the point about the summer transfer window was to add one more player, a left-back.
“They tried.
“It was not possible to proceed with the right options.
“Utd didn’t want to sign just to say: ‘OK, we signed one.’
“They wanted to be convinced about the player they were going to sign, and so that’s why nothing happened.
“But they maintain total faith and confidence in Michael Carrick.
“They only have four points in four Premier League games, so obviously this is disappointing in terms of results, but Man Utd remain convinced about that.
“Carrick remains absolutely convinced too.
“What Carrick says in public – ‘We are going to do very well, I am confident, this team is good’ and all the rest – is what he’s saying to the club.
“Carrick remains absolutely convinced that this team can do very well in the next weeks and months, especially after the break.
“So, that’s the feeling of Michael Carrick.”
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