Football

Man Utd approached Antoine Griezmann in a summer window that ‘raised eyebrows’ in dressing room


The French striker swapped Atletico Madrid for Camp Nou in July (Picture: Getty)

Manchester United did try to sign a superstar striker in the summer transfer window and reportedly made an approach for Antoine Griezmann before he signed for Barcelona.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been left short of firepower this season after letting both Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez leave the club without bringing in any replacements.

After starting the season with a thumping win over Chelsea, United’s form has tailed off with injuries to Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford robbing the side of goal threat.

Griezmann’s move to Barcelona had been a long time coming (Picture: Getty)

United are expected to move for a new striker in the January transfer window, with the likes of Juventus frontman Mario Mandzukic and Lyon star Moussa Dembele mooted as targets.

But according to The Athletic, United were braced for Lukaku’s departure from spring onwards and set their sights extremely high when looking for a replacement, making contact with Griezmann’s camp.

The Frenchman completed a €120million (£105m) move from Atletico Madrid to Camp Nou in July in what was one of the worst kept secrets in football, with a deal said to have been in place for months.

Though that did not stop United bosses from making a final check on Griezmann before the deal had been announced to see if he might be tempted to move to Old Trafford; evidently he was not.

United were also heavily linked with free agent Fernando Llorente during the summer, who eventually joined Napoli, and The Athletic report the Spaniard’s potential arrival was discussed in the changing room.

Solskjaer was prepared to let Lukaku go even without a replacement (Picture: Getty)

The failure to replace Lukaku, as well as Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini, was a hot topic among the players and reportedly ‘raised eyebrows’ within the squad.

Although all three were often unfairly maligned during their time at United, there was a feeling from their teammates that they still could have contributed and possessed qualities to help the side win even on bad days.





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