Juventus chief Fabio Paratici has confirmed Manchester United made an approach to seal the transfer of young defender Merih Demiral this summer.
The 21-year-old defender perhaps makes sense as having been a target for the Red Devils as they looked to strengthen at the back, though they later ended up signing Harry Maguire from Leicester City instead.
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Demiral has only just joined Juventus from fellow Serie A side Sassuolo, and Paratici says the club asked for £36.6million for the Turkey international.
“He is our player who has had the most deals on the market, don’t imagine how many. The Turk was requested by Milan but was also approached by Manchester United,” Paratici told Gazzetta dello Sport, as translated by Calciomercato.
“Juve took it for 18 million from Sassuolo and initially set his price for around 40 million euros.”
Man Utd fans will probably be pleased to have landed Maguire instead, with the England international clearly the far more proven player at the highest level.
The 26-year-old had a hugely impressive debut for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side at the weekend as he started in the club’s 4-0 win over Chelsea.
Demiral, meanwhile, probably won’t even be a regular starter for Juve in the season ahead, given the competition for places in Maurizio Sarri’s squad.