Manchester United were believed to be one of the clubs interested in signing Darwin Nunez this summer. It is not hard to see why either. The Red Devils definitely need to bring in another striker. Edinson Cavani is leaving while the likes of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford have failed to impress for a while now. Cristiano Ronaldo had a decent but not spectacular season and is not getting any better, as he is 37 years of age.
Thus, someone like Nunez could have proven to be a solid signing for the club but that has failed to materialise as Liverpool appear to have beaten the competition for the €100 million Uruguayan striker’s signature. It is considered only a matter of time before that move is complete.
Ten Hag is believed to have been a fan of Nunez and wanted to bring him to Old Trafford, after witnessing first hand what he is capable of, when Ajax met Benfica in the Champions League last season.
But it does not look like he is disappointed to have seen Manchester United miss out on Nunez, considering the transfer fee that Liverpool are set to shell out for him. Fabrizio Romano wrote in his column with Caught Offside:
"As for Manchester United’s interest in Nunez, Erik ten Hag had mentioned the Uruguay international in his meetings with the Manchester United board, but he is not disappointed because he knows that spending a €100m package for the 22-year-old risked compromising the club’s strategies.Manchester United certainly tried to sign Darwin, and they were still in contact with his agent until Friday, but they considered Nunez a €70m target, not €100m.They will still look to sign a new striker, but a decision will also depend on who can leave the club, such as Anthony Martial."
Manchester United tried to sign Nunez but Liverpool won the race for his signature
It is safe to say that shelling out that kind of a transfer fee for Nunez would have been a risk for Manchester United.
While Nunez was spectacular last season, he is not someone who has been at the top of his game for a long time or played in one of the top European leagues.
With all due respect to Portuguese domestic football, the Premier League is going to be a whole different ball game for Nunez and it will be interesting to see how he makes that transition.