Manchester United made right transfer decision on starlet who 'scouts compared to Nemanja Vidic'

Manchester United were not the only ones left frustrated by Southampton last Sunday.

One-time reported transfer target Duje Caleta-Car arrived at Old Trafford for the first time as a Southampton player but failed to feature for a sixth successive Premier League match. In an alternate reality, the 23-cap Croatia international may have been much more familiar with Manchester by now.

Three years ago, the central defender was linked with City and United when comparisons to Nemanja Vidic followed his name. Caleta-Car also came close to signing for Liverpool a year later before a deadline day deal with French giants Marseille collapsed. But since finally arriving in the Premier League with Southampton last summer, it's fair to say the 26-year-old has failed to live up to those lofty expectations.

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The defender has made just 16 appearances across all competitions for the side that currently sits rock-bottom of the top-flight table. He was a regular under their first manager of the season Ralph Hasenhuttl, remaining so for a time under his successor Nathan Jones, but it all changed in late January.

Coming into the first leg of Southampton's Carabao Cup semi-final against Newcastle United, the club had won three of their previous four matches in league and cup, including the shock quarter-final defeat of City on the south coast. Caleta-Car played every minute in each of those trio of victories and once again was entrusted to start by Jones.

The run of starts would end abruptly, though, as having already been booked in the first half, the defender brought down Allan Saint-Maximin four minutes from time and received a second yellow card. After serving a