The reason for Manchester United's failure to sign one of Africa's most sought-after players in January has now reportedly been revealed.
The Red Devils were in search of reinforcement at the beginning of the year, when they looked to sign a striker to replace Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as a midfielder after Christian Eriksen was ruled out for three months due to an ankle injury he suffered that same month.
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The club was swift in bringing in Wout Weghorst on loan from Burnley to fill the centre-forward position, but left it late in getting in a player for the middle of the park, with the side eventually signing Marcel Sabitzer on loan from Bayern Munich on deadline day.
However, it now appears the Red Devils had made an attempt to sign a different player just days earlier.
Nordin Amrabat, brother of Morocco star Sofyan Amrabat, has now revealed why his younger sibling's move to Old Trafford fell through following his impressive display at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
"There was a lot of interest, but Sofyan only wanted to leave for a top team," he told Dutch television programme Goedenmorgen Oranje.
"A lot of information was received from England and those clubs could also pay substantial transfer fees.
"I can name three clubs that were really concrete in the last days.
"Manchester United came in the last two days. They wanted to loan him, with an option to buy. That fell through, because Fiorentina didn't want that.
"Barcelona also came with a loan offer three days before the transfer market closed.
"But due to the financial problems, they could not offer a mandatory option to buy. And the third was Chelsea."
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The Fiorentina star, whose contract in Italy expires in June 2024, remains a wanted man by some of Europe's elite, with Liverpool still believed to be considering a potential move for the midfielder.
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