Manchester United have missed out on a number of signings over the years – much to the frustration of many supporters.
You can’t sign every player on the wish list but Manchester United have suffered some transfer blows over the years.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted Moises Caicedo even before his Brighton and Hove Albion move, but United felt that a more finished product was needed.
Solskjaer also wanted Erling Haaland but United have been forced to watch his goalscoring exploits at Manchester City instead.
United will look back on those transfer misses with regret and one agent now claims United missed out on a World Cup winner too.
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Agent makes Antoine Griezmann to Manchester United claim
Cast your minds back to 2017 and Manchester United were pushing for the signing of Antoine Griezmann.
The Frenchman had dazzled at Euro 2016 and was continuing to shine for Atletico Madrid.
United were ‘closing in’ on Griezmann, as reported by The Guardian, with an £85.5million move being teed up in February for the summer.
No deal was announced though and Griezmann was quoted by The Guardian as saying that he had a six out of 10 chance to join United.
Come June 2017, Griezmann committed his future to Atletico by stating ‘now more than ever’, ruling out a move to United.
United did sign a new forward that summer as Romelu Lukaku arrived to bolster Jose Mourinho’s options in the final third.
Griezmann ended up joining Barcelona in 2019, only to return to Atletico just two years later.
Agent Andrea Orlandi has now told Tuttomercatoweb that there was an offer on the table from United – but Griezmann said no.
Orlandi was answering a question about whether Griezmann could end up in Serie A, with the Spaniard claiming that there has never been a concrete offer from Italy – and never anything to the level that United offered him.
Orlandi claims that Griezmann still wants to play outside of La Liga at some point but couldn’t commit to an exact destination.
“He’s already 33, I don’t think so. There has been interest in the past. Never a concrete offer, but the teams are the well-known ones… But he hasn’t had an offer like from Manchester United: there he refused it and said no, but he has never opened up about saying goodbye to La Liga. If in the future he wants to play in a different style of football, we’ll see, I’m not saying he won’t,” he added.
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Griezmann still banging the goals in
Griezmann won the World Cup in 2018 and whilst he is now 33, he is showing no sign of slowing down.
The French star scored twice against Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday night, taking his tally to seven goals in his last five games for Atletico.
Griezmann has now hit 11 goals and six assists in 22 games across La Liga and Champions League action this season.
The ship has surely sailed on any move to United now, with 2020 speculation surrounding United’s interest in Griezmann going nowhere.
Ineos are going in a different direction with their recruitment approach, prioritising younger players over the likes of Griezmann.
Griezmann certainly could have been a superstar at United though and missing out on him under Mourinho is certainly a shame – especially as Lukaku didn’t quite live up to expectations.
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