After spending almost the entire transfer window trying to get Inter Milan to accept less than they wanted for Ivan Perisić, Dithering Ed finally gave up.

This was remarkable in some respects, especially when one considers how he usually OVER-pays for players. This was one of Mourinho’s four main targets and Woodward failed to secure him.

It wasn’t as though there was a problem with the player. He was quite happy to join United. Inter Milan were prepared to let him go at their asking price, which wasn’t that much more than the final offer.

There was talk, at one stage, that Inter wanted Anthony Martial on loan for a season as part of the deal but, once this was refused, they remained open to a straight cash offer of around €50 million.

So the upshot was that José Mourinho didn’t get his man.

There will, of course, be the chance to do it all again in January and the suggestion here is that United should be trying to bring in Thomas Lemar from Monaco, rather than Perisić who, having just signed a new deal, will not be looking to move at that time anyway.

The fact that Arsenal were prepared to offer €92 million for him says a lot about the player, (it says a fair bit about Arsenal as well, but we won’t go there). Yes it was an offer made out of complete and unadulterated panic due to the realisation that they had just agreed to sell Alexis Sánchez to City and needed a replacement pronto, but it also shows how much the player is valued.

That he needed time to think about joining Arsenal, when he knew the transfer window was about to close, was obviously a polite way of saying NO THANKS, NOT ON YOUR LIFE! With no Champion’s League football on offer and Arséne Wenger as manager there is very little, if anything at all, to attract a top player to Arsenal.

All of this points to the fact that a club with a respected manager and a place in this season’s Champion’s League, would not have to pay so much to get him.

In January he would probably be available for around £65-70 million to United, (or Liverpool if Woodward doesn’t move quickly).

In January Lemar will still only be 22 years of age, seven years younger than Perisić who will be 29 in February and five years younger than Antoine Griezmann, who will be 27 in March. He stands somewhere between the two as he will cost more than the Croatian but less than his fellow Frenchman.

It’s probably fair to say, at present, that Antoine Griezmann remains Manchester United’s top target for January and he has, reportedly, indicated that he is prepared to leave Madrid. If this is the case then he may very well pitch up at Old Trafford. If not, however, then the best, and some would say better alternative, would undoubtedly be the Monaco player.