Manchester United were linked with a shockingly high number of players this summer as Erik ten Hag sought to invigorate a lacklustre squad.
Following the end of the Frenkie de Jong saga, United acquiesced into approaching other targets. The central midfielder first on the list of alternatives was Adrien Rabiot of Juventus.
Many were surprised by this pursuit because of the Frenchman’s inconsistency and questionable attitude. Juventus had made him available for sale earlier in the window, but no other suitors appeared until United’s £15 million bid was accepted.
After the deal collapsed due to an inability to agree personal terms, United were offered several midfielders to compensate for their failed quests.
Similarly, following the almost immediate retreat from negotiations with Bologna for the controversial and aging striker Marko Arnautović, Ten Hag’s hunt for a forward line reinforcement continued.
Fabrizio Romano has compiled a list of players who United were offered during the final weeks of the transfer window. He revealed via his Youtube channel:
• Leandro Paredes, formerly of Paris Saint-Germain (now Juventus)
• Weston McKennie, Juventus
• Memphis Depay, Barcelona
• Yannick Carrasco, Atletico Madrid
• Christian Pulisic, Chelsea
• Sergiño Dest, formerly of Barcelona (now AC Milan)
• Thomas Meunier, Borussia Dortmund
• Moisés Caicedo, Brighton & Hove Albion
• Hirving Lozano, PSV Eindhoven
These players, and six others according to the transfer guru, were of course proposed to United before the £60m and £85m purchases of Casemiro and Antony, respectively.
Romano alluded to the fact that United chose not to bite, instead remaining composed as their chased their desired targets from Real Madrid and Ajax.
What is noteworthy, however, is that these players were offered to United – by their clubs or by their agents – following uncertainty over the current transfer strategy at Old Trafford and the history of scattergun acquisitions.
United remained strict to their shortlist, forgoing these offered proposals in favour of bidding for Ten Hag and John Murtough’s preferred players, Casemiro and Antony.
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