Murtough blocked €20m Man Utd deal, Barca back for Silva, Egan to West Ham

A disagreement at boardroom level saw Man Utd end their interest in a Barcelona star this summer, while the Catalan giants are ready to sign Bernardo Silva next summer…

FAITH IN AWB
Man Utd decided not to pursue a deal for Sergino Dest this summer after football director John Murtough decided to back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, according to reports.

The Red Devils had been linked with a number of right-backs in the summer but transfer expert Fabrizio Romano recently revealed that Dest was “the only concrete option” Man Utd had. But, in the absence of any good offers for Wan-Bissaka, they decided not to pursue a deal for the USA international.

And The Athletic claims a move to Man Utd in the summer ‘was a possibility’ for Dest and ‘Barca’s hierarchy liked that idea as they thought it might help push De Jong to Old Trafford’.

But a deal did not work out because of Murtough’s faith in Wan-Bissaka. The Athletic add:

‘Dest was a much better fit for Ten Hag’s preferred style than Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and the manager would not have stopped Wan-Bissaka from leaving Old Trafford. But United football director John Murtough backed the England international.

‘There was also some surprise in Dest’s camp that Barca were asking for €20million, more or less what the club had paid two years previously. Barca’s negotiating position was not great, given their public need to sell.’

BARCELONA SEARCH FOR SILVA
Barcelona are plotting a huge move to bring Man City midfielder Bernardo Silva to La Liga next summer, according to reports.

There were strong links in the summer transfer window that Barca pursued a transfer for Silva but reports claimed that Man City told them they would have to pay €100m to sign him. Any deal that size would’ve been impossible for the Catalan giants to do this summer considering their problems registering players.

But now Spanish publication Sport claims that Barcelona ‘does not forget’ about Silva with the Portugal international said to be ‘the only piece that was missing in the transfer market’ for the Blaugrana.

Barcelona were ‘willing to make an economic effort’ to sign Silva in the summer but the move ended up being ‘impossible’ for them to complete, leaving Silva waiting ‘a long time to make his dream come true’.

The report adds that it ‘bothered him that they left his operation for the last stretch of the summer market’ but Barcelona have promised that they ‘will return to the fray as…