Manchester United Missed Out On Darwin Nunez After Thinking Food Poisoning Was An Excuse

Manchester United might have signed Darwin Nunez, if they hadn't thought a cancelled meeting with Benfica's president was cancelled because they were being snubbed.

Nunez's move to Liverpool was confirmed last week, and the Uruguay striker will end up overtaking Virgil van Dijk as the club's most expensive ever transfer.

There had previously been interest from elsewhere in the Premier League, with Brighton interested in the striker before he went to Benfica and West Ham interested back in January.

Liverpool's rivals Man United also wanted the 22-year-old earlier this year and even arranged a meeting with Benfica chief Rui Costa to discuss the transfer.

However, according to the Athletic, Costa had to cancel after he, and his family, got food poisoning whilst celebrating his birthday. United though thought that the cancellation was a 'snub' and were left unconvinced at their chances of signing Nunez, with Liverpool ultimately successful in their pursuit.

Nunez scored just after the cancelled meeting. Image: Alamy

The meeting actually came just ahead of Jurgen Klopp's side's Champions League quarter final with the Portuguese side, in which Nunez scored in both legs.

The former Almeira forward's price tag had been expected to rise once they'd qualified for the knockout stages of the competition, having previously been available for around £45 million.

Those goals certainly helped boost his price, with the Champions League runners up now set to pay up to £85 million for the Uruguay international.

The meeting wasn't the only thing that counted against United, even though new manager Erik ten Hag did like the forward, having also seen him score against his Ajax team in Europe.

Nunez also scored against Ten Hag's Ajax. Image: Alamy

But Ten Hag's arrival at United, and even his appointment, came too late for the signing, with the Dutchman arriving at Old Trafford when Liverpool were already deep into their negotiations.

The 52-year-old's desire for a midfielder, over a striker, also led to the club falling further behind in any pursuit of Nunez, as they look to try and sign Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona.

United fans are still waiting for their first signing of the summer, but they were given some information, accidentally, by Richard Arnold.

The man who took over from Ed Woodward was secretly filmed telling a group of supporters that they were doing everything possible to provide the new manager with the players he wants.