Man Utd were blocked from signing Sporting CP midfielder Morten Hjulmand over the summer after one Arsenal deal called time on their pursuit.
The Red Devils moved to improve their attack in the summer transfer window with Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha likely to help them beat their poor goalscoring record from last term.
Some Man Utd supporters and former players were disappointed to see the club fail to sign a new midfielder before the transfer window shut.
It’s a widely-held view that Man Utd need a top defensive midfielder to get to the next level under Ruben Amorim with Brighton’s Carlos Baleba their top target in that regard.
Sporting CP midfielder Hjulmand was also linked with a move to Old Trafford on a number of occasions but it never materialised into a concrete bid.
However, Romano has revealed it only “never advanced” because Arsenal’s deal for Viktor Gyokeres meant Sporting CP were unwilling to part with any more of their best players over the summer.
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Romano said on his YouTube channel: “For sure, the situation of Hjulmand was never easy. But Manchester United were informed over the summer about Hjulmand, the player well known by Ruben Amorim.
“Different skills compared, for example, to Baleba, to Gallagher, but still a very interesting midfielder for Man United.
“That option was never advanced for one reason, that Sporting, after selling Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal, didn’t want to sell any other crucial piece of their squad to any other club.
“So this is why, for Hjulmand, for Man United, it was not even possible to start a real negotiation.”
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Hjulmand’s compatriot, Rasmus Hojlund, was one of the big exits at Man Utd over the summer with the Denmark international joining Napoli on loan.
The Serie A champions have an option to buy Hojlund for £38m at the end of the season, while it will turn into an obligation if Napoli qualify for the Champions League and the Man Utd striker plays a certain amount of matches.
Romano added: “I wanted to mention something on [Hojlund] to clarify the numbers of the deal, as there was confusion in the final days.
“Manchester United received £5.2 million paid immediately, plus coverage of the salary of Hojlund for this season. [Napoli] will have a buy option close to £38 million.
“This buy option clause can become mandatory based on Napoli qualifying for the Champions League. And then on the appearances of the player. So there is a number of appearances that have to be guaranteed in order for Napoli to trigger the buy obligation for Hojlund.
“Man United are quite confident about that because the player also wants to move on a permanent transfer, not a loan.”
Earlier this week, Romano revealed that Man Utd attempted to sign Conor Gallagher on loan from Atletico Madrid but the Spanish side turned the offer down.
Romano said: “In the last 48 hours of the summer transfer window, Manchester United tried to sign Conor Gallagher. Man United considered that possibility – to go for Conor Gallagher.
“Then, it was not possible to make it happen because Man United wanted to sign Gallagher on a loan deal, while Atletico Madrid already rejected an approach from Crystal Palace 10 days ago for Gallagher on loan.”
