For many, it was a romance just waiting to happen – Paulo Dybala to Manchester United. Roma’s attacking midfielder has regularly been linked with the Red Devils one transfer window after another, but as things stand – it does not appear a move will materialise anytime soon with the Argentine now in his fourth decade.The former Juventus star has revealed that moving to Old Trafford was once on the cards but he opted to remain with the Serie A club following talks with manager Maurizio Sarri.United wanted La Joya in the summer of 2019 when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was still in charge, and Juve’s former chief football officer Fabio Paratici proposed a mooted swap deal that would see Romelu Lukaku move in the other direction.##NAJAVA_MECA_8136271##However, it fell through and the 30-year-old remained with Juventus before moving to Roma in 2022.“That summer, I remember there was an approach from Manchester United as well as Tottenham but it was more Manchester because Juve wanted to make that move,” Dybala told The Athletic.“It was the season Juve appointed (Maurizio) Sarri, so I spoke to him to find out if he really didn’t want me on the team. After our chat, my intention was to stay. I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay because I was happy (in Turin). That was my best year.”Dybala’s goals against the Milan clubs, and particularly Antonio Conte’s Inter, ended up deciding the title as Juve won the Serie A by just a point, while Lukaku left Man United for Inter that summer.The Red Devils have missed out on a couple of top players over the years, and fans can only be left wishing what would have been had a player like Dybala joined them in the prime of his career.The Old Trafford club have spent around 1.75 billion euros on new players since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 but do not have plenty to show for it. Man United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is hoping to change their fortunes on and off the pitch and has come up with some rules heading into the summer transfer window. Their new technical director Jason Wilcox will set out a style of play blueprint that will be enforced on all levels of the club and any new boss has to come into line with it.🚨🗣️ Paulo Dybala: “That summer (2019), I remember there was an approach from Manchester United as well as Tottenham, but it was more Manchester because Juve wanted to make that move” #MUFC pic.twitter.com/BGlmxfFwCK— UtdTruthful (@Utdtruthful) May 30, 2024 Man United also have no plans to splash the cash on big-money players and will adopt a recruitment model based on bringing in five new players under the age of 25 this summer.The manager will not be able to name players he wants but will only be asked what positions he would like to see Man United recruit in, and the CEO, director of football and technical director will then find three players for the role. The boss will then be tasked with picking one of the three players before the club makes a concrete transfer move.A parallel universe compared to how it was when Fergie was running the show at the Theater of Dreams.
