Manchester United have failed in their most recent attempt to prise Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich.
While you could perhaps understand INEOS chiefs doing their utmost to try and navigate a lower price tag, Bayern have stood firm in their €50 million (£43m) valuation from the get-go.
As such, with three-and-a-half weeks of the transfer window remaining and only four days until United get their season underway, reinforcing the squad as quickly as possible will only aid Erik ten Hag in getting any new acquisitions settled and up to speed.
United close in on fullback signing but made to wait over one departure
Florian Plettenberg of Sky Sports took to X (Twitter) tonight to reveal that the latest offer tabled by United was ‘still not sufficient to proceed with the deal’. On the other hand, negotiations between both clubs for Noussair Mazraoui are progressing, although his arrival largely hinges on whether Aaron Wan-Bissaka is sold.
The right-back is in talks with West Ham United but is yet to reach an agreement on personal terms. Denzel Dumfries, meanwhile, has put contract talks with Inter Milan on ice while he mulls over his future, with an Old Trafford move carrying ‘particular appeal’, per David Ornstein.
