Forget what you heard.
It seems Manchester United, despite what was widely reported over the course of the summer, were not that keen on signing Toby Alderweireld from Tottenham after all.
United were linked with several central defenders ahead of the new season, with the Belgium international most frequently linked with a move to Old Trafford after falling out of favour at Spurs last season.
However, despite the speculation, it’s now claimed that United never once made contact with the London club about a deal for the former Atletico Madrid and Southampton player.
A report by The Mirror says Spurs received no contact from the 20-times English champions about Alderweireld over the final days of the window. In fact, with Daniel Levy open to letting both Alderweireld and Danny Rose leave, the report claims it was Tottenham who made an informal approach to United to see if they had any interest in signing either of the pair.
United are said to have instantly rebuffed the opportunity to sign the players, supporting Jose Mourinho’s pre-deadline day comments that his club were not likely to bring in any new players.
A source from Tottenham is quoted as telling the Mirror: “There was never any interest from United in either Alderweireld or Rose. So it wasn’t a case of us refusing to sell either player to them – they never spoke to us.”
As well as Alderweireld, United were also linked with moves for Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng and Leicester City’s Harry Maguire. Boateng is now thought to be closing in on a move to Paris Saint-Germain while Maguire has stayed put at Leicester, who refused to sell the England international at any price.
According to a report in The Times, “Alderweireld was low down on a nine-man shortlist that their scouting department gave to Mourinho and Woodward at the end of last season.”
Raphael Varane is understood to have been United’s first-choice target. Other players mentioned include, Kalidou Koulibaly, Milan Skriniar, Alessio Romagnoli, José Giménez and Caglar Soyuncu.
Alderweireld is expected to be in contention to face United when Tottenham travel to Old Trafford for Monday night’s Premier League game.
