Man Utd blew chance to pocket extra £5m from old boss as transfer finally agreed

  /  autty

Manchester United have lost out on millions by not cashing in on Scott McTominay 12 months ago.

The Scotland midfielder is on the verge of a move to Napoli after United accepted a £25million offer from the Serie A giants. Fulham were also in for McTominay, bidding around £20million, which United deemed too far below their valuation.

However, the Red Devils could have secured as much £30million from West Ham, then managed by former United boss David Moyes, last summer. The Hammers decided not to increase their bid and moved onto other targets instead.

The landscape has changed at Old Trafford since then, with Sir Jim Radcliffe’s partial purchase of the club finally going through earlier this year. Since then, the INEOS billionaire has been overhauling operations throughout the club, giving head coach Erik ten Hag the green light to revamp his squad.

The departure of homegrown talent McTominay could help pave the way for the arrival of summer target of Manuel Ugarte of Paris Saint-Germain. That deal has been held up for financial reasons, with United needing to move players out first in order to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.

The French giants have been holding out for £51m for the Uruguay international, who has been frozen out of the first-team picture by PSG boss Luis Enrique. United are reportedly willing to pay £42m for Ugarte, while PSG have suggested a season-long loan deal with an obligation to buy for £51m next summer.

Negotiations have dragged on, but the McTominay sale could help speed things up ahead of the August 30 deadline. Ten Hag had previously insisted that he was hoping to keep McTominay, but his pursuit of Ugarte has impacted his plans.

Speaking last month, the Dutchman said: “When you score 10 goals in a season and also perform very good for Scotland, then there will be an interest [in McTominay].

“But we want to keep him because he is a very important player for our squad. What he can contribute, as we saw last season once we had our sixes available, he could play in a more advanced role and he is a highly interesting player for our team.”

Related: Manchester United McTominay
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