Manchester United wanted Tottenham and Leicester defenders.
Manchester United tried and failed to sign a defender in the summer much to the annoyance of manager Jose Mourinho.
It was not down to a lack of scouting, with The Times reporting United had a nine man ‘shortlist’ of players they wanted to sign.
The top names were reportedly Raphael Varane who Real Madrid did not want to sell, and Leicester’s Harry Maguire.
The list included Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld, but The Times claim: “Alderweireld was low down on a nine-man shortlist that their scouting department gave to Mourinho and Woodward at the end of last season.”
The list of players in no particular order named in the report are include centre-backs plying their trade in England, Italy, Germany and Spain.
The players are: Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Harry Maguire (Leicester), Jérôme Boateng (Bayern Munich), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Milan Skriniar (Inter), Alessio Romagnoli (AC Milan), José Giménez (Atletico Madrid) and Caglar Soyuncu (Leicester).
Only one of these players were transferred this summer, with Leicester signing Turkish international Soyuncu from Freiburg on deadline day.
He cost just £19 million, report SkySports, and that could be a piece of business United regret not pushing harder for.
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