Mason Mount blocked Man Utd from signing 'the best striker in the world'

Mason Mount blocked Manchester United from signing the world’s best striker, according to a fresh report.

Since securing a £55million summer transfer from Chelsea to United, Mount has endured a difficult few months plagued by poor form and recurring injury issues.

And according to a fresh Mail report, Mount's move partly deterred the Old Trafford club from signing arguably the world’s best striker - Harry Kane.

Kane is on course to have his most prolific season yet, having managed 22 goals and seven assists for Bayern Munich in just 19 games, as well as netting four goals for his country this term.

The England captain has seamlessly taken to life in Bavaria since his £86million move from Tottenham this summer, but things could have been very different, had he secured a transfer to United as some quarters had anticipated.

According to the Mail, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy was under pressure from Spurs owner Joe Lewis to sell Kane, who only had a year left on his contract. However, Levy reportedly told United he would not sell the striker to a Premier League rival.

Concerned that Levy might string them along throughout the summer and then pull the plug, United reportedly decided that, with their restricted budget, they could not hold off on deals for Mason Mount and Andre Onana.

Having signed Casemiro and Antony late in Ten Hag’s first window in charge a season prior, they wanted to lock down their key signings early.

As per the publication, they believed Mount was a “now or never deal” as he was entering the final year of his contract at Chelsea, so addressed it as a priority.

Meanwhile, Onana was a necessity after the departure of long-serving shot-stopper David de Gea.

The Mail added that signing a goalkeeper also ended any consideration for signing two strikers after United considered bidding for Kane and Brighton’s Evan Ferguson.

Ultimately the club ended up with Rasmus Hojlund, who has netted five goals in five Champions League games but is still yet to hit the target in his first 12 Premier League encounters.