ANDREY SANTOS and Youri Tielemans put the mid in midfield as Manchester United stunk the place out against Hull – and that is being generous.

‘s new-look pairing were completely ineffective behind Bruno Fernandes and left much to be desired.

Brighton, UK. 09th May, 2026. BRIGHTON, ENGLAND, MAY 09: Carlos Baleba of Brighton & Hove Albion during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion v Wolverhampton Wanderers at the AMEX Community Stadium, Brighton, England, on May 9. (PhoManchester United are desperate to get Carlos Baleba in after losing to Hull Credit: Alamy Hull City v Manchester United, Premier League - 22 Aug 2026Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans struggled on their competitive debuts Credit: Shutterstock Editorial

The opening day competitive debuts for each .

In a minor positive, neither nor had any more luck after coming on, and nobody else had any luck for United.

But with the club still looking to buy a THIRD midfielder of the window, Brighton may well be thinking about bumping up their asking price for .

but are so desperate in the centre of the park that they would surely settle for paying even more at this stage.

Historic tough negotiators, could ask United to throw money at them for Baleba and little argument would surely be put up, he is that big of an addition.

Where Santos and Tielemans , Baleba drives from deep and covers ground for fun.

He is a wide-ranging passer and explosive in marauding across the pitch.

None of those words could be used to describe .

Sunday 23 August
Brighton
Brighton
14:00
Regular Season
Epl-teamaston-villa
Villa
Man City
Epl-teammanchester-city
14:00
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Epl-teambournemouth
Bournemouth
Newcastle
Epl-teamnewcastle
16:30
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Liverpool
Monday 24 August
Fulham
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20:00
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Chelsea
Friday 28 August
Palace
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20:00
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Man City
Saturday 22 August
Friday 21 August
English Premier League P W D L GD Pts Form
1
1
1
0
0
3
3
2
1
1
0
0
3
3
3
1
1
0
0
2
3
4
1
1
0
0
2
3
5
1
1
0
0
1
3
6
1
1
0
0
1
3
7
0
0
0
0
0
0
8
0
0
0
0
0
0

Santos, who cost £50million of that figure from , had been one of the standout performers in pre-season.

He and , another ex-Blue costing £65million, .

But at newly promoted – and massive favourites to go straight back down – Hull, he was stunted.

Brazilian Santos may well have completed 52 of his 56 passes (93 per cent) but almost half of those were safely in his own half.

He lost the ball FIVE times and only produced one progressive carry despite Hull sitting on the edge of their own penalty area.

, Santos couldn’t impact the game at all.

He committed one foul and ended up making more clearances (three) than chances.

If Santos stumbled then Tielemans fell flat on his face.

The Belgian, a £35million signing from , was even worse.

Hull City v Manchester United, Premier League Football, Football, MKM Stadium, Hull, UK - 22 Aug 2026Tielemans was woeful on and off the ball Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Heat map and statistics for Youri Tielemans against Hull City, showing 80 touches, 70 passes, 0 dribbles, 1 foul conceded, 0 tackles, and 4 duels lost.He struggled to get things moving

Another player used to advancing play in possession, he misplaced EIGHT passes and completed less than 50 per cent of his 62 in Hull’s half.

He lost the ball FIVE times trying to get it forward in the middle third and was a hinderance when travelling with it.

Hull nabbed the ball off him on 11 occasions and made light work of getting past him when attacking.

Tielemans made one foul, was dribbled past twice, and made ZERO defensive contributions.

Even Baleba, coming off the back of a tough year on the south coast, will be able to offer more impetus.

And Carrick best hope that it moves along quickly as he seeks to get United going.

Illustration of Andrey Santos' soccer statistics and heat map, showing 67 touches, 56 passes, 0 dribbles, 0 shots, 1 foul conceded, and 2 duels lost.Santos fared better but didn’t replicate his summer form

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, Carrick was left with egg on his face.

Mainoo was left on the bench from the start which frustrated some.

And Santos was described as being “nowhere near good enough at this stage of his career to be a starter” by one fan online.

They added: “Tielemans looked Sunday league level today. I’m honestly speechless at that performance.”

Another said: “Santos and Tielemans struggled to even keep the ball.”

A third wrote: “I knew Santos was a scam”.

For many, Baleba can’t come soon enough.