Fabrizio Romano reveals secret Manchester United transfer target from January

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Fabrizio Romano has spoken about a secret transfer target Manchester United had in mind this January that didn’t come off in the end.

The Red Devils were supposedly keen on Josip Juranovic from Celtic, though he was only being targeted if Aaron Wan-Bissaka left Old Trafford, which didn’t materialise.

The former Crystal Palace defender has enjoyed a run in Erik ten Hag’s side lately and looks much-improved after a difficult start to the season, so the club ended up keeping him instead of moving for Juranovic.

The Croatia international ended up moving to Union Berlin instead as it became apparent United would not be making their move for him.

Josip Juranovic in action for Union Berlin

“The second transfer secret is about Manchester United – we know they were looking for a new right-back, and that Aaron Wan-Bissaka could have left because he had a difficult first half of the season. But then he played well in January and United decided to invest in Wout Weghorst and Marcel Sabitzer instead,” Romano said.

“Still, United had a right-back in mind in case Wan-Bissaka was going to leave, and that right-back was Josip Juranovic – the Croatian who moved from Celtic to Union Berlin. He was their preference to come in as backup right-back, behind Diogo Dalot, who remains the owner of the right flank at the club.

“The United board discussed Juranovic, but they decided to keep Wan-Bissaka and so the deal collapsed and he instead decided to accept the approach from Union Berlin. Still, he was a concrete opportunity.”

The 27-year-old impressed in his time at Celtic but it seems Romano feels he would only have come in to be backup to Diogo Dalot at United.

Dalot has been in superb form for MUFC this season, with Wan-Bissaka remaining his understudy for the time being.

More Stories Aaron Wan-Bissaka Diogo Dalot Fabrizio Romano Josip Juranovic