Manchester United failed to land Alessandro Bastoni in 2021

Manchester United, alongside a host of other top European clubs, failed to land Italian central defender Alessandro Bastoni in 2021.

The Red Devils have spent massively on centre backs since then, signing Lisandro Martinez, Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro for a combined €164 million.

Despite this heavy investment in the backline, the team still have major defensive issues as they conceded three goals against each of Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and FC Porto.

Italian outlet TUTTO mercato WEB claim that United were just one of a number of top European clubs aiming to steal away the talented defender in 2021.

They report that “there was a moment, in 2021, when Bastoni could have ended up at another club. Because he had a contract expiring in 2023 and Inter’s situation wasn’t the most prosperous.”

A last minute loan secured by the Inter Milan owners allowed Bastoni to renew until 2024 and with an improved salary.

It is thought that “at that time, however, all the most important clubs in Europe were there, from Real Madrid to Bayern Munich, passing through Manchester City and United. All ready to understand what the future of the defender could be.”

Decision makers at Inter feared that they could well have had to sell the player just like their neighbours AC Milan had to do with Sandro Tonali in 2023.

From Bastoni’s perspective however, he has always wanted to stay and for a “long time” as he views himself as future captain material at the San Siro.

There seems no real possibility of the defender leaving Inter anytime soon as his agent recently claimed, “he’s a super Interista and he’s doing great there, he’s happy and there’s no problem today. The problem of leaving Inter isn’t there, we renewed a year and a half ago and he’s very happy, he can also win at a European level because Inter is a very competitive team.”

In the three years since United showed an interest in the centre back he has blossomed into one of the world’s premier defenders for both club and country, having played over 200 times for Inter.

He has also been productive in winning trophies since 2021, winning the league once, two Coppa Italias and two Supercoppa Italianas since he almost departed.