Manchester United’s arch-rivals Liverpool broke the British transfer record to sign Florian Wirtz this summer.
Despite criticism of Manchester United’s spending over the past decade, the Red Devils no longer feature in the top five most expensive British transfer fees of all time.
Paul Pogba is United’s most expensive transfer at £89 million, but his arrival in 2016 now ranks as the seventh most expensive in the Premier League.
Arch-rivals Liverpool confirmed a £116m deal for Florian Wirtz on Saturday afternoon, but the 22-year-old nearly made a move to Old Trafford years earlier.
Man United were linked with Florian Wirtz in 2021
Towards the end of 2021, United were trying to recover from a poor start to the season which saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sacked as manager.
Ralf Rangnick was appointed interim manager, and the German coach iconically said that United needed “open heart surgery” to fix their problems.
Rangnick’s time as manager ended miserably for all involved, but his transfer targets at Old Trafford have aged brilliantly.
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Ahead of the January 2022 window, United were linked with Florian Wirtz with Rangnick leading the charge to sign the then 18-year-old playmaker.
United were pursuing a £60m deal for Wirtz – almost half of what Liverpool have now paid for the German midfielder.
Man United ignored Ralf Rangnick’s transfer ideas
When appointed interim, the initial idea was for Rangnick to become an advisor to United once his stint as manager was over.
However, he never entered his consultancy role and left at the end of the season following his disappointing spell as head coach.
Rangnick’s ideas were ignored by the United hierarchy, with club chiefs choosing to put their faith in new manager Erik ten Hag and his recruitment ideas.
READ MORE: What Ralf Rangnick said about Matheus Cunha when he signed Man Utd target in 2018
Instead of pursuing Wirtz like Rangnick suggested, United spent well over £200 million on Antony, Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia in the 2022 summer window.
Rangnick also recommended Luis Diaz, Julian Alvarez and Dusan Vlahovic but United looked in other directions and are now pursuing an entirely new front line in 2025…