Jose Mourinho was eager to sign the Bayern Munich defender in 2018.
United’s owner and chief executive Ed Woodward blocked the signing of Jerome Boateng from Bayern Munich, Gary Neville reveals.
The former Manchester United defender revealed on Sky Bet’s Big Season Debate that the club are now forming a stronger plan.
This summer saw the Red Devils focus on signing younger players like Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James, both of whom featured in their opening day win over Chelsea.
But their policy might have been different if Mourinho had still been in charge.
“What the club have realized, what the Glazers have realized and probably what Ed Woodward has realized in the last 18 months is that they’ve stopped saying ‘yes’ to managers,” Neville said.
“Jose wanted to sign [Jerome] Boateng for €55 million. I probably would have blocked that myself if I was the owner of a football club.
“Bayern don’t let anyone go if they’re half decent. We’ve been burnt on Bastian Schweinsteiger, they didn’t want to pay the money for Harry Maguire at the time. I think the club are changing the policy with the same people.
“I think for the first time this summer, there is a profile of player that it looks like they’re going for.
“They announced at the end of the season that they were going to sign young players that were more fitting with what United would do in the past. I don’t disagree with what they’ve done this summer.
“United were never going to get the best player in the world or the top 10 best players in the world this summer, they weren’t going to come.
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