Manchester United's attempt to sign Sporting Lisbon midfielder Bruno Fernandes has stalled because the clubs cannot agree a fee.
Sporting are demanding 80m euros (£68m) for the 25-year-old, which United are unwilling to pay.
Talks continue between the clubs for a player rated at 45m euros by Tottenham Hotspur last summer.
United have not ruled out targeting alternatives having made a priority of looking at midfield options this month.
However, they will only look at existing targets and with two weeks remaining before the transfer window closes, Fernandes remains their first choice.
United have told Sporting a deal will not be done unless they drop the fee.
Solskjaer and his assistant Mike Phelan watched Fernandes play against FC Porto on 5 January.
United take on leaders Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League on Sunday (16:30 GMT kick-off).
SH221B
1144
Man united already signed Bruno fernandez 5 times in rumours 😁😁
Deoailosuz
1019
Yesterday he was playing his last match for sporting today another stories. I always pray to God to remove Manchester United In my heart
BøūjèéWïddãŪzî
915
So they spend £80M on fucking Maguire but don’t wanna spend 80M on a top quality player like Bruno Fernandes?? And not to mention Man United are one of the most wealthiest clubs in the world...Man dem moving like Daniel Levy at Spurs
Hocbdlopru
428
I knew that Woodward is just playing with us and trying to make us believe he is going to buy bruno These are all his and the glazer’s lies Please sell this club to someone who can really return the history back Because these band of fools are gonna destroy our club
JamesWalker
364
Fans Waiting for Woodward 😠
Snashyboy
341
Man utd have to refuse paying that amount because he can be another Pepe that is huge amount of money for a player who is not epl proven like maguire people can argue but the price we pay for maguire is justified and also he was epl proven player
Mundy
310
This board is just a waste of time. We would buy any player in this transfer like this for them to save some bucks. I realy don' t understand Woodward any more
adesinaalamu
299
This is how serious United board are. If Fernandes is an English with his quality, they would have paid £100m to get him