Man United 'rejected' chance to sign £60m Arsenal target for next to nothing

Manchester United are said to have missed out on the chance to sign Arsenal target Pedro Neto for next to nothing.

The Gunners have long admired the Wolverhampton Wanderers winger and could finalise a £60million deal for the 24-year-old this summer. The Portuguese star joined Wolves in 2019 from Braga, following a loan spell at Lazio. However, before his move to Italy, United were believed to be closely monitoring the promising attacker.

According to The Athletic, United identified Neto in early 2017 and even invited the then-teenager to Carrington. Despite impressing coaches and scouts during an academy game, it took too long for a contract to be sanctioned, it is claimed, leading Neto to sign a new deal with Braga before joining Lazio on a long-term loan.

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He later moved to Wolves in 2019 and made his senior international debut a year later. The hesitation is consistent with claims from former club scouts, who say they discovered talents, only for the club to not act quickly enough to tie them down.

The Red Devils were also said to have identified current Bayern Munich and Germany star Jamal Musial and Moises Caicedo, now of Chelsea, early in their development. Lyndon Tomlinson, who served as the assistant head of academy recruitment at United from 2017 to 2021, told The Athletic: "I think it's just being decisive and getting things over the line, that was always the problem.

"In terms of the scouting, the structure and system we had - look at [Alejandro] Garnacho - was good. The reports were there, the process was there. We were just