Phil Neville has admitted that Manchester United tried to sign Paris Saint Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi at the beginning of last season.
The former United defender was sent to scout the French international by former United boss David Moyes last season.
Matuidi was in superb form on Tuesday night as he helped PSG hold Premier League leaders Chelsea to a 1-1 draw in their last-16 Champions League first-leg.
“We wanted to sign him. We’d heard his contract was running out and we were really interested in him”, he told the BBC.
“Then he signed a contract with PSG, which was obviously something we weren’t happy with.
“We were looking at it at Man Utd last year to inject a little bit of energy. He runs from box to box and he carried the team forward simply through his energy on that left channel”.