Manchester United chief John Murtough turned down Erik ten Hag’s request to sign Barcelona defender Sergino Dest during the summer transfer window.
When Ten Hag was brought to the club, Manchester United chose to back him significantly, bringing in Casemiro, Antony, Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martinez, and Christian Eriksen.
The new signings helped to improve United all over the pitch, but one position they didn’t strengthen was right-back.
Now, according to The Athletic, Ten Hag wanted to sign Barcelona defender Dest, but Manchester United’s football director Murtough decided that Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka would be enough for the season and rejected the move.
Thankfully for Manchester United, Dalot has had an impressive start to the season. The Portuguese defender has made the right-back spot his own, with Wan-Bissaka struggling to break into the starting eleven.
Dest eventually joined AC Milan on loan for the season, but Ten Hag won’t be too disappointed after the fine form of Dalot.
Despite rejecting Ten Hag’s choice to sign Dest during the summer, Manchester United were willing to allow him to bring his own players, with the likes of Antony and Martinez signed from his former club Ajax.