Sky Journalist Reveals That Man Utd Tried To “Hijack” Premier League Rival’s £61M Transfer

Man Utd made a late move for Rennes centre-back Jeremy Jacquet, according to Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg.

Liverpool have agreed a deal to sign the 20-year-old this summer for a fee that could rise to €70m (£61m), but posting on X, Plettenberg said:

“Excl | Manchester United tried to hijack Jeremy Jacquet’s summer transfer to Liverpool in the last hours, but were unsuccessful. Jacquet already had an agreement in place with Liverpool.”

Jacquet has flown over to England for a medical before his switch to Merseyside is made official. He will join the Reds in June.

Man Utd came to the table too late

Jacquet was never going to leave Rennes this month, but Chelsea had been trying to do a deal for the defender over the past couple of weeks.

Initial talks stalled after the Blues insisted that the player make the switch to Stamford Bridge during the January transfer window.

Things changed when Liverpool entered the fray. The Reds were willing to wait until the summer, and Chelsea then made it clear that they were prepared to take him at the end of the season too.

United had not been in the frame while this was all going on, and it looks like they left things too long before making an approach.

A centre-back is not a priority for the club

While Jacquet fits the type of profile that Director of Football Jason Wilcox and Head of Recruitment Christopher Vivell are looking for, the Red Devils are believed to be keener on strengthening other positions first.

Fabrizio Romano has recently claimed that the club will go “very big” in the market this summer for two midfielders. The impending departure of Casemiro means that area of the pitch needs to be reinforced at the earliest opportunity.

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