The agent of Red Bull Salzburg striker Karim Adeyemi has confirmed that Manchester United did try and sign the German international.

Other English teams, including Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City had also been linked with Adeyemi, but Thomas Solomon says United were the ones trying to hijack his move to Borussia Dortmund:

“We’re now close to complete the deal with Borussia Dortmund. There will be no release clause included into his five-year deal. [Ralf] Rangnick? Yes, Manchester United wanted to enter the race – but we want BVB”.

It does look as though United were simply too late in their attempts to sign Adeyemi. While Ralf Rangnick has strong connections at the Red Bull group, the player already had his heart set on a return to Germany with Dortmund.

Various reports claim that the Bundesliga club will pay €38m (£32.5m) for the 20-year-old, who is set to replace Erling Haaland, with the Norwegian poised to complete his switch to City.

After missing out on Adeyemi, United will now switch their attention to other potential targets. Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Benfica’s Darwin Nunez are believed to be options that the club are still considering.