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Manchester United’s transfer priorities changed when it came to light that Luke Shaw was set to be sidelined for a few months.
The situation was exacerbated by the fact that Tyrell Malacia is also sidelined until November and manager Erik ten Hag became desperate for an experienced left-back.
He was forced to start Diogo Dalot in that position against Nottingham Forest but the manager knows the Portuguese alone cannot handle the more difficult Champions League challenges to come.
ETH desperate for an experienced LB
The Dutchman also feels academy starlet Alvaro Fernandez is not quite ready yet and a loan exit has been earmarked for him as soon as United bring in an experienced left-back.
The Red Devils were linked with a bunch of full-backs — free agent Ryan Bertrand, Tottenham Hotspur’s Sergio Reguilon, Marcos Alonso of Barcelona just to name a few.
As it stands, the race is mainly between Marc Cucurella of Chelsea and Reguilon but that would not have been the case if a certain transfer was not blocked.
United already failed with an attempt to prise Ivan Perisic away from Spurs while Villarreal opted not to entertain a loan offer for their talisman Alfonso Pedraza.
The Peoples Person had reported that at one time, Ten Hag had expressed his keenness to bring Nicolás Tagliafico to Old Trafford in Shaw’s absence.
Now as per Foot Mercato, United’s approach for the World Cup winner was blocked by Olympique Lyon, which has enraged the Argentine.
“The Argentine world champion, who had already seen Ajax interested in him a few days ago before the Dutch club cooled their interest, is not the happiest in Lyon.
“He took a very dim view of the blocking of his departure for Manchester United, which had made a very good offer to recruit him.”
Nicolás Tagliafico enraged
The Argentine had played under Ten Hag during his stint as Ajax boss and the chance to reunite was something both were looking forward to.
However, Lyon’s blocking of the move forced United to shift their attention to Cucurella.
“Tagliafico is a player we didn’t want to sell, but we had a big club in England come. But it’s almost unimaginable to be able to replace such an important player on the pitch and in the locker room,” Lyon owner John Textor was quoted as saying.
Fans are waiting with bated breath to see which player the club does bring in in the end. Time is certainly running out.
