According to the transfer market expert, Gabriele Marcotti, Manchester United’s initial target for the defensive midfielder’s role was Spurs’ Eric Dier and not Nemanja Matic. According to Marcotti, Jose Mourinho at first wanted the English International to wear the red of Manchester. But with the deal seemingly hitting a brick wall, United moved for Nemanja Matic as an alternative.
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Marcotti said, “He has a point but again, look people say all sorts of things but I think the other target or alternative in that role for Manchester United was Eric Dier.
“Obviously negotiating with Tottenham was tough. Tottenham did not want to let him go.
“Obviously everybody has a price.
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“I think they took a long, hard run at Dier but then they saw they weren’t getting anywhere with Spurs and they opted for Nemanja Matic at what they think is at a reasonable price.”
In the early part of last month, there were reports that Manchester United were going to make a second bid for Eric Dier after the London outfit had rejected a first one. And Marcotti’s statement hence might actually make a lot of sense simply because Spurs’ chairman Daniel Levy is quite a hard negotiator and he has said time and again that Dier is not up for sale.
