Manchester United reportedly looked at Santiago Bernabeu for a third time in as many summers to strengthen their squad, but Real Madrid knocked back their advances this while.
Having already signed Raphael Varane and Casemiro from Los Blancos in 2021 and 2022 respectively, the Red Devils explored the possibility of adding Antonio Rudiger to their ranks this summer, as per Nacional.
Erik ten Hag is interested in signing a new centre-back, though the position isn’t considered a priority concern and any incoming should depend on the departure of either Harry Maguire or Victor Lindelof.
However, claims from the Spanish outlet suggest United have been very determined to sign the German defender.
Rudiger, who only moved to the Spanish capital last summer on a free transfer from Chelsea, made 26 starts in La Liga. On the surface, this seems fine, but Carlo Ancelotti’s team selection in important games last term suggested the 30-year-old only accumulated these starts due to David Alaba and Éder Militão’s injury issues at different stages of the campaign. When fit, both were considered the first-choice centre-back pairing by the veteran coach.
In Militão’s absence in the first-leg of the Champions League semi-finals due to suspension, Rudiger was given the nod to start against Manchester City. He was impressive against Erling Haaland in the 1-1 stalemate at home. However, he was found himself on the bench after the Brazilian was cleared to feature.
The Catalan source claim that United used this argument to convince Rudiger to move to Old Trafford, offering him an untouchable status in Ten Hag’s side.
The Premier League giants also proposed a pay-rise to the former Chelsea star, who is already amongst the highest-paid centre-backs in Europe, taking home wages in the region of £315,000-per-week.
In addition, United allegedly also planned to offer 60 million euros (£51.2million) to convince Real’s president Florentino Perez to sell another of his star men to them. But Perez turned down their approach, forcing the English giants to look elsewhere.
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