Jose Mourinho's desperate dash around the transfer window for a defender is now common knowledge, although the extent of it continues to unspool.
A couple of reports have emerged this morning that tell further tales of Jose's thwarted ambition in the transfer market. Marca report that Atletico Madrid's World Cup-winning defender Lucas Hernandez' turned down a move to Manchester United in favour if staying at Atleti. According to the report, he would have doubled his salary at United, but elected to stick with Simeone's side.
United apparently submitted an eye-watering €80 million bid for Lucas, but it was unsuccessful.
Hernandez was also reportedly subject to post-Russia interest from Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Elsewhere, Mourinho also reportedly failed to land Leonard Bonucci, who ended up leaving AC Milan and returning to Juventus. Bonucci only moved to Milan in 2017, but soon returned to Turin in a swap deal with Gonzalo Higuain and Mattia Caldara going the other way.
So, you can add Lucas and Bonucci to the list that includes Toby Alderweireld, Harry Maguire, Diego Godin and Jerome Boateng. It's believed that the Bonucci deal didn't happen for similar reasons to these latter quarter, as the move didn't make enough financial sense for Ed Woodward and the United board.
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