Manchester United reportedly blocked Jose Mourinho from sealing the transfer of Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng last summer due to concerns over his fitness.
The Red Devils were strongly linked with Boateng, but ended up abandoning the deal after taking a closer look at the player’s performances with ‘bespoke software’, according to The Athletic.
MORE: Manchester United star undergoes special training regime in bid to make it back for Liverpool clash
The report explains that United noticed trends in the Germany international’s recent performances, which pointed towards his levels dropping after playing 70 minutes or so.
Man Utd will probably feel they made the right choice as they’ve suffered similarly from signings like that in the past, most notably when they signed Bastian Schweinsteiger, also from Bayern.
The former midfielder was past his best when he moved from the Allianz Arena to Old Trafford in 2015 and barely made any impact in his short time in Manchester.
Boateng may well have been one of the best defenders in the world once, but looks now to have been one of a number of short-term fixes targeted by Mourinho in his time at MUFC.