Manchester United were reportedly bombarded with offers to sign 15 different players during a manic week in the summer transfer window.
United signed six players in the off-season to bolster Erik ten Hag’s squad following an exodus of players upon the expiry of their contracts. Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro, Antony and Martin Dubravka all arrived, but that was not the whole story.
Ten Hag identified Barcelona ’s Frenkie de Jong as his priority transfer target and United’s recruitment team, spearheaded by football director John Murtough and chief executive Richard Arnold, spent months pursuing the midfielder. They also came close to signing Juventus ’ Adrien Rabiot and Bologna’s Marko Arnautovic, only to back out of both deals.
It is that period, from August 15 to 21, which Fabrizio Romano claims saw United offered a whole host of players by agents and clubs desperate to sell unwanted players. With time running out before the window closed on September 1, and the deals yet to be finalised for Casemiro and Antony, there was a free-for-all.
Barcelona did not want to sell United De Jong, but they were willing to do business for Memphis Depay and Sergino Dest, who were both being pushed towards the exit as part of efforts to trim a bloated squad.
Depay spent 18 months at United earlier in his career, but a return to Old Trafford was never really deemed feasible, due to Ten Hag’s insistence on chasing Antony from his old club Ajax.
Dest was given more consideration, but United ended up vetoing the move after receiving no interest in Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The right-back eventually left Barca on deadline day for AC Milan, who signed him on loan with an option to make it permanent for €20million (£17.32m).
United also discussed the possibility of signing Christian Pulisic, but the deal broke down over a difference of opinion between the Red Devils and Chelsea. United were only willing to take the USA international on loan, but Chelsea would only do business if it was a permanent deal.
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Atletico Madrid’s Yannick Carrasco was offered on a permanent deal, as was Napoli’s Hirving Lozano. Neither were considered for long, with United still confident of landing Antony. That proved to be the case, with Ajax eventually giving in over a £85.5m deal.
The failure to land De Jong saw plenty of alternatives suggested. Among them were Leandro Paredes, who ended up leaving Paris Saint-Germain for Juventus, Weston McKennie, who was offered by Juve but stayed put, and Brighton ’s Moises Caicedo, who was considered after the Rabiot deal fell apart over the Frenchman’s wages.
United were briefly keen on Belgium international right-back Thomas Meunier. However, Borussia Dortmund didn’t want to sell and the failure to move on Wan-Bissaka meant the transfer never got off the ground.
