Man Utd reason for ditching Darwin Nunez transfer emerges, as Ten Hag gets going on alternative forward

Man Utd reeled back from a Darwin Nunez bidding war for one reason, while Erik ten Hag has ‘genuine interest’ in signing an alternative forward who has already been discussed within the club, per a report.

Liverpool are on the verge of officially confirming their capture of Darwin Nunez. Selling club Benfica have already released a statement confirming the move, with Nunez set to cost Liverpool an initial £64m.

The total cost of the move could rise to around £85m pending add-ons. The nature of those add-ons was one of the final sticking points Liverpool had to resolve and the Times claimed Liverpool made compromises in that regard.

A final fee of £85m would blow Liverpool’s previous transfer record out of the water. Virgil van Dijk is the holder of that record at present when bought for £75m from Southampton.

Manchester United were known to be in the mix for Nunez’s signature. Indeed, the Red Devils were in contact with the Uruguayan’s agent as late as Friday after also identifying Nunez as a stellar transfer option.

However, writing in his column for CaughtOffside, Fabrizio Romano has detailed why Man Utd didn’t make life more difficult for Liverpool.

The transfer guru claimed United thought highly of Nunez, though clearly not to the degree Liverpool do. Indeed, Romano stated United believed Nunez was only worth a £60m fee, far below the £85m Liverpool have committed to.

With Nunez bound for Anfield, United must explore alternatives to bolster their forward line.

Romano provided an update on that front too, claiming interest in Brazilian winger Antony is ‘genuine’.

The 22-year-old plies his trade with Ajax and is thus well known to Ten Hag. Antony is a left-footed right winger and would provide stiff competition for the