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What's the story?
Manchester United's pursuit of a centre-back went beyond the realms of desperation and even ventured into the comical by the time the transfer window shut. There were only a few top quality centre-backs who weren't linked with the Red Devils by the end of the Premier League transfer window.
According to The Sunday Times (via The Daily Star), Manchester United were unhappy about Barcelona wanting to insert a buy-back clause for Yerry Mina in the deal among other reasons and hence decided to bow out of the race to sign him.
In case you didn't know...
Yerry Mina was one of Manchester United's and Jose Mourinho's top targets and United were heavily linked with him for over 2 weeks. However, they failed to come to an agreement and eventually decided to abandon their pursuit of the giant Colombian centre-back.
The heart of the matter
The report states that Jose Mourinho had held talks with Yerry Mina and his representatives ahead of a potential bid. However, they were unhappy with both the player's and the club's terms.
Manchester United did not entertain the idea of Andre Gomes being a part of the deal either. It looks like all that could have gone wrong did go wrong. Jose Mourinho and co. were unimpressed by the structure of fees proposed by Yerry Mina's agent as well.
Ultimately, Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes joined Everton on deadline day. Barcelona got their wish and were able to convince Everton to insert a buy-back clause worth £53.6 million.
Meanwhile, Andre Gomes joined Everton on a one-year loan deal after failing to impress during his time at Barcelona.
Rumour rating/probability: 8/10
This sounds like a plausible explanation as to why United decided to not finalize the deal and sign the Colombian who was available for a relatively cheaper price.
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What's next?
Barcelona did some shrewd business here, to say the least. They were certain that they wouldn't be able to convince a big club to insert a buy back clause in the agreement and consequently sold Mina to Everton- who are much lesser in stature compared to the Red Devils.
If Yerry Mina becomes a huge star at Everton, Barcelona will definitely buy him back. That's not great news for the Toffees now, is it?
