Agent says Manchester United moved for player in January window – One of several clubs who did

Manchester United were one of the clubs who tried to sign Brazilian striker Willian José in the January transfer window, according to his agent.

In a live chat with journalist Jorge Nicola, representative Nick Arcuri says the Red Devils were were Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United in the chase for the 28-year-old.

The agent referred to Manchester United’s approach as something ‘official’, although there are no details on how far the talks for him went.

“So I tell everyone, just in this January market, he had, that’s official, alright Jorge? He had Barcelona, he had Tottenham, he had Manchester United, he had Newcastle. Then, just there, again, he speaks for himself,” said Nick Arcuri.

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Quizzed about who were the club who got closest to signing the striker, he said it’s was the London side, but things weren’t done because Real Sociedad couldn’t find a replacement in time.

“Tottenham. They got to offer between… they wanted to offer a player and an amount, so it was about €30m.”

Manchester United’s chase for a striker was well known during the January transfer window, as they needed a quick fix in the team while Marcus Rashford recovers from an injury.

The Red Devils ended up completing the signing of Odion Ighalo from Chinese side SH Shenhua on a loan deal until the summer, with the possibility of making the transfer permanent in the future.