Fabrizio Romano says Man Utd swoop to sign Barcelona speed demon in January is ‘one to watch’ as Aston Villa raid is shut down

Manchester United have been told that they could still secure the signing of left-back target Alejandro Balde in the January transfer window if two things happen at Barcelona, while Fabrizio Romano has also explained why any hopes of prising a top talent away from Aston Villa are now over for good.

The Red Devils invested heavily into their midfield this summer, bringing in Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba for a combined £155m (€181m, $210m) though those arrivals came at the expense of other key additions they would have ideally liked to have addressed.

Indeed, the demands on Luke Shaw – often an injury struggler and a player who has already missed the last two games – will be greater than ever this season with United back in the Champions League and chasing glory on four fronts.

However, despite long-standing interest in both Newcastle’s Lewis Hall and Barcelona star Balde, the Red Devils failed to sign any additional cover at left-back – leaving their squad without a specialist player there for whenever Shaw misses out.

Hall now looks to have been taken off the table after he signed a big-money contract extension at Newcastle, though, according to Romano, United still have a very good chance of landing the rapid Balde in January after failing with a summer swoop.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano said: “The first one for Alejandro Balde was clearly impossible from a financial point of view. United really considered this possibility. There were discussions with the player’s agent of the player, Jorge Mendes.

“Jorge Mendes was in Barcelona to discuss the Man Utd possibility with Barca director Deco.

“So, the possibility was concrete, but United were only interested in a loan deal, potentially with a buy-option clause to become mandatory under certain conditions, but not a permanent deal immediately, and Barca were never going to accept a loan for Balde. Only a permanent transfer, and then also the salary was a problem.”

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Man Utd told they can still sign Balde; Aston Villa raid is OFF

Despite that, Romano insists the door remains open for United to secure the signing of Balde in the winter window if they try again to land the 22-year-old.

“For Alejandro Balde, in general, for his future, we have to see how the next three, four months will go because Balde obviously wants to play football, but Balde is in love with Barcelona.

“For Balde, it is not easy to say to Barca, ‘I want to leave, I want to go’. Balde never did that because Balde really, really loves Barcelona. So, it was Barca considering a possible exit for Financial Fair Play to get extra money, but only permanent – not loan.”

“Balde was more than happy to stay at Barcelona, but he hopes to play more. So, let’s see what’s going to happen there. For sure, the Balde situation is going to be one to watch this season and in the upcoming months.”

On deadline day, United also made an approach to sign a Manchester City star, which was also blocked for similar reasons to Balde.

There was also interest there in Aston Villa’s Ian Maatsen, though Romano can explain why that deal was never going to be sanctioned and now has next to no chance of ever seeing the light of day.

“He (Ian Maatsen) was a player under consideration at United, appreciated by Man Utd, but Aston Villa made it clear that after selling Lucas Digne, they were not going to sell also Ian Maatsen.

“Now, for Maatsen, a new contract is almost done. So, the update I can give you is that Maatsen is going to sign a new contract at Aston Villa. So, I don’t anticipate any movement in the January transfer window.”

Following Sunday’s 1-0 derby loss to 10-man Manchester City, Wayne Rooney has explained why the result also shows why INEOS did not do enough to improve the squad in the summer window.

Rooney and Gary Neville have also hit out at the decision to allow Erling Haaland’s controversial winner to stand.