Willian Jose has claimed that he was a target for Barcelona and received an “offer from Manchester United” — but Real Sociedad blocked the move to Old Trafford.
Since being recruited from Uruguayan club Deportivo Maldonado in 2016, the 29-year-old Brazilian striker has remained with the Spanish club.
Jose, on the other hand, stated that he was a transfer target for United in the January 2020 transfer window.
Due to a dearth of strikers and Marcus Rashford’s injury at the time, United wanted to boost their attacking options in the winter window last year.
Former Bournemouth striker Josh King and ex-Shanghai Shenhua striker Odion Ighalo were on the Red Devils’ shortlist.
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Ighalo was signed by United on a loan deal, but Jose has now revealed that he was one of the strikers on the Red Devils’ radar.
Jose, who was loaned out to Premier League side Wolves in January, said that a move to United was an “opportunity that I could not miss out on.”
However, the Sociedad striker is baffled at why the La Liga club blocked a potential transfer to Old Trafford.
“I think they have not treated me well,” he told Spanish publication Noticias de Gipuzkoa.
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“I expected a little more. When I renewed my contract, I had spoken with Roberto Olabe about there being some interested teams, from the Premier League and also from La Liga.
“I spoke with Roberto, and he told me that if a big team which played in the Champions League came in for me, they would let me go. I stayed calm.
“Then came Barcelona and an offer from Manchester United. I saw that it was an opportunity that I could not miss out on because life is like that. You have to take advantage of opportunities, and I saw that it was the opportunity.
“In the end, things did not go well, and this year they let me go to Wolves.
“I don’t understand why a few months ago they didn’t want to let me go for €23million and now they have let me go. Football is sometimes difficult to understand.”
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