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Manchester United’s board blocked move for Chelsea-bound Kai Havertz


Kai Havertz is set to join Chelsea (Picture: Getty)

Manchester United decided against signing Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Kai Havertz because they deemed the club’s £90m price tag to be ‘excessive’.

The German is set to join Chelsea this summer and international team-mate Leroy Sane appeared to confirm his move to Stamford Bridge earlier this week.

The 21-year-old has attracted attention from all over Europe in the last 18 months, including from giants such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Manchester United were similarly keen and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer discussed the possibility of signing Havertz with his board in January.

However, according to the Athletic, United board members Matt Judge and Ed Woodward felt £90m was not good value for money and that in any case, Leverkusen’s price tag would eventually come down.

Chelsea value Havertz at around £75m but a series of add-ons could take the deal to around £80m. From that perspective, United’s board were correct in their suggestion that Leverkusen’s asking price will go down.

Solskjaer wants to make three additions this summer (Picture: Getty)

However, perhaps more concerning for United fans will be the fact that the Red Devils look set to miss out on another young talent.

United met with both Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland in the last six months but both players opted to join Dortmund.

Though United’s transfer policy has improved under Solskjaer, many of the problems that were present under Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal persist.

United waited until the final week of the transfer window last summer to sign Harry Maguire last summer and the club ended up paying Leicester’s initial £80m asking price.

Solskjaer watched Bruno Fernandes in action on January 5th but the Portuguese playmaker signed on the dotted line over three weeks later on January 30th.

The 25-year-old has been a sensation since arriving at the Theatre of Dreams but United played seven times between Solskjaer’s trip to Portugal and Fernandes’ arrival on the penultimate day of the window.

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