Manchester United did not rival Liverpool for the signing of Virgil van Dijk after Jose Mourinho rejected the move, according to reports.
The Independent claim Van Dijk's name was put forward by the Red Devils before his £75million move from Southampton to Liverpool.
Club bosses were willing to table a bid and look to beat Liverpool to the signature of the Dutchman.
But manager Mourinho said no to the move as he did not want to add another center-back to his squad at that time.
Previous reports have suggested Woodward was convinced to break the bank for Maguire after seeing the impact Van Dijk had on Liverpool.
He was pivotal to their tightened defense helping them launch a Premier League title charge and lift the Champions League last season.
But the Dutchman could have ended up at Old Trafford, or at least been given a tough choice to make had Mourinho not rejected the chance to table a bid.
The report from The Independent also claims the scouting structure at United is in disarray.
It says many scouting reports on potential targets are left unread, with a source saying: "They’ve got reports on so many players, but they mostly go ignored.
"Some of the players they’d spend fortunes on, they’re not as good as better players who they’ve got reports on, but most go ignored."
Cauaekost
99
Bunch of lies, he was denied the opportunity to sign players Jose Mourinho can not refuse to strengthen his defense
SonOfPep
61
Actually he helped Van Dijk from flopping. Thank you Mourinho for rescuing the Defender