Man Utd lined up ex-Chelsea star as fifth summer signing but he turned them down

Former Chelsea midfielder Christopher Nkunku rejected a move to Manchester United during the summer transfer window, his new club's sporting director has claimed.

Nkunku left Chelsea in the summer of 2025 to join AC Milan, where he scored eight goals in 35 matches in all competitions.

But he was made surplus to requirements by new Milan head coach Ruben Amorim and has since joined his former club RB Leipzig on a season-long loan.

His form at Leipzig prompted Chelsea to splash out £52 million on signing him in the summer of 2023, though his start to life at Stamford Bridge was put on hold until December due to knee surgery.

Nkunku failed to nail down a regular starting spot in the Premier League under Mauricio Pochettino and then Enzo Maresca, but did play a key role in Chelsea's successful Conference League campaign by scoring seven goals in 15 matches.

He was heavily linked with a transfer to Manchester United last year, but he eventually moved to Milan.

Interest from United resurfaced this summer as well, with head coach Michael Carrick looking to add further depth to his squad to prepare for a season of Champions League football. Their interest dates back as far as the 2021/22 season, when Ralf Rangnick was in interim charge.

Christopher Nkunku is back at RB Leipzig on loan (Image: Getty)

United were questioned in some quarters over their decision to focus largely on signing new midfielders, with the club deciding not to firmly pursue alternative targets at left-back after being told Newcastle's Lewis Hall was unavailable.

They also declined to bolster their numbers in attack, having signed Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko last summer. Marcus Rashford also returned to the club following his season-long loan at Barcelona.

Nkunku is now back at Leipzig, who have an option to buy worth €28 million once his season-long loan ends.

'We wouldn't have stood a chance...' - Manchester United transfer attempt fails

Leipzig sporting director Marcel Schafer has claimed that the deal only happened because Nkunku desperately wanted to return to his former club - and that he turned down two Premier League clubs.

"The transfer wouldn't have happened without Christo's steadfastness," Schafer said (via BILD). "Two Premier League clubs were prepared to go to the limit - we wouldn't have had stood a chance."

Bild state the identity of the two Premier League clubs as Manchester United and Newcastle, who were also looking to add to their attacking ranks in the closing week of the transfer window.

Matthias Jaissle's side ultimately concluded the deadline day signing of highly-rated striker Matias Fernandez-Pardo from Lille, who played for Belgium at the World Cup.

The 21-year-old made his debut as a 63rd-minute substitute in Newcastle's 2-2 draw against Bournemouth on Saturday lunchtime, with the Magpies equalising through Jacob Ramsey on 88 minutes.

Who Man Utd signed this summer

Manchester United completed deals for four senior players, including the midfield trio of Carlos Baleba, Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos.

While the total outlay for those three players was in excess of £150 million, United brought in reserve goalkeeper Karl Darlow for free after his contract with bitter rivals Leeds expired.

They also signed winger Tynan Thompson from Tottenham to initially play in their academy squad.