Manchester United received brutal response from agent after trying to ‘hijack £79m deal’
Manchester United have been busy in the summer transfer market, bringing in the likes of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, and now it’s emerged they made attempts to secure another big name signing
Manchester United put feelers out for Hugo Ekitike before the striker’s move to Liverpool but were rebuffed by his representatives.
The Frenchman has joined the Reds from Eintracht Frankfurt in a £79million deal. His arrival was the latest piece of business from the Merseysiders, who have already signed Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong.
United have been busy themselves in the transfer market, with Ruben Amorim having added Bryan Mbeumo to his ranks, around six weeks after signing Matheus Cunha from Wolves. However, it appears the Red Devils also made attempts to add another star to their forward line in the form of Ekitike.
According to The Athletic, United were keeping tabs on the striker’s situation and made contact with Frankfurt after Liverpool’s initial bid to tell them of plans to speak to Ekitike’s representatives. The Red Devils may have been reasonably confident of winning him over, as the Frenchman has previously said that he supported United when he was growing up.
However, Ekitike’s people firmly told United that the striker only wanted Liverpool. This blunt rejection resulted in United not making a formal offer for the striker.
Ekitike is the second striker to snub United’s advances this summer. The Red Devils also chased Sporting Lisbon forward Viktor Gyokeres.
At one stage, the Portuguese side even offered United the opportunity to bid for the Swede. Any effort they made proved to be a waste of time as the ex-Coventry City forward has firmly had his heart set on a move to Arsenal and looks likely to arrive at the Emirates Stadium before the end of the transfer window.
Ekitike had also been courted by Chelsea and Newcastle United. The latter tabled a huge £70m bid for his services the week before, but Liverpool swooped in to sign him for an initial £69m, followed by success-based add-ons understood to be worth a further £10m.
United have already invested heavily in their frontline, parting with a combined £127.5m to sign Mbeumo and Cunha. Between them, the pair contributed 37 goals and 15 assists for their respective clubs.
But the Red Devils may need more reinforcements with Marcus Rashford joining Barcelona, and Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho and Antony being deemed surplus to requirements. Sancho has been chased by Juventus, while Garnacho has previously been linked with Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Antony has been linked with both Atletico Madrid and a surprise reunion with Erik ten Hag, who is now the manager of Bayer Leverkusen. The Brazilian, who struggled at Old Trafford but impressed while on loan at Real Betis last season, reportedly has a £30m price tag on him.
United are now understood to have moved on from Gyokeres and are now chasing a move for RB Leipzig forward Benjamin Sesko. While they are linked with the Slovenian, United are also believed to have held talks with the representatives of Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson.
The Senegal forward appears to be behind Blues signings Joao Pedro and Liam Delap in the Stamford Bridge pecking order, but the west Londoners still value him at around £80m – a figure that is based on the £79m deal Liverpool secured for Ekitike.
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