Manchester United tried to strengthen their squad in the summer transfer window.

They managed to bring in Donny van de Beek from Ajax early in the window and spent the remainder of the summer attempting to convince Borussia Dortmund to part with Jadon Sancho.

That didn’t happen, of course, and United ended the window with something of a trolley dash; they signed striker Edinson Cavani on a free transfer and left-back Alex Telles from Porto. Amad Diallo and Facundo Pellistri also agreed to join from Atalanta and Penarol respectively.

However, it seems that there was interest in another winger in the summer.

Sport Witness carries a report from Sport claiming that super-agent Jorge Mendes attempted to broker a deal that would have taken young winger Ansu Fati to Old Trafford.

The 18-year-old’s career is on a remarkable trajectory and has made a total of 43 appearances for the club already, scoring 13 goals and laying on five assists.

And Mendes proposed a deal that would have seen United pay €150m (£133.8m) in total for the teenager, though Barca refused to even countenance the possibility of selling him.

The report states that the agent could again try to arrange a deal for the Spain international, as he believes there is money to be made from Fati.

He has a €400m (£357m) release clause in his contract but it appears that the representative thinks he could move for a lower figure than that.

GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…

This would have been astonishing.

Fati is genuinely a superstar in waiting, having made his Barcelona debut so young and thrived in the deep end of La Liga.

He is already a full Spain international with four caps to his name and a deal would have made him one of the most expensive players in the history of the game.

It bears repeating: He’s 18.

United will surely be keeping an eye on his situation and the prospect of snaffling him away from Camp Nou eventually.

What a signing it would be, too.