Romano reveals Man Utd were ‘prepared’ to make ‘crazy change’ to sign Semenyo | OneFootball

Man Utd were “prepared to change the system” to make sure they signed Antoine Semenyo in January, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.

The Red Devils have been inconsistent once again this season with Ruben Amorim’s side winning just two of their last eight Premier League matches.

Despite that poor run of form, Man Utd find themselves seventh in the Premier League, three points off fourth-placed Chelsea but only four points ahead of 15th-placed Brentford.

Man Utd have lost Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui to Africa Cup of Nations duty, while Bruno Fernandes could reportedly be out for six matches with a hamstring injury.

The Red Devils are looking to bring in some reinforcements over the January transfer window but could wait until the summer as they look to avoid signing players who will only make a short-term impact.

Bournemouth winger Semenyo was a player they were seriously pushing for in recent days but arch-rivals Man City have beaten them to his signing.

The Citizens are expected to sign Semenyo when the transfer window opens in a week with Semenyo declaring Pep Guardiola’s side as his ‘preference’.

But Romano has revealed that Man Utd pulled out all the stops to try and sign the former Bristol City man by even offering a change of system to incorporate him into Amorim’s side.

Romano said on his YouTube channel: “Man City believe they won this crazy race. The reaction from Man Utd is, ‘We tried our best’. Man Utd made their best effort, be it tactical or financial.

“Utd made a very important financial offer to Semenyo. They pushed like crazy. They were even prepared to change the system to welcome Semenyo.

“But Ruben Amorim indicated that he only wants players who want to be at Manchester United, who want to wear the shirt, ‘We don’t want players who are not convinced’.

“Even last summer, with Viktor Gyokeres, get Champions League football, no Champions League football, United [said] okay, so game over [from Utd’s perspective].”

Romano added: “I’ve been telling you that Manchester United, in the conversations they had with Antoine Semenyo, made clear that they were even prepared to change the system to welcome Antoine Semenyo at the club.

“So Semenyo was not going to play wing-back. The idea of Man United was even to open doors to a different system with Semenyo up front.

“But despite an important financial effort, because United, especially yesterday, made an important financial effort to try to get the player, despite their tactical effort to welcome Semenyo, to try to find the best tactical way. They didn’t get the green light from Antoine Semenyo.”