According to reports from The Metro, Inter Milan defender Yuto Nagatomo has revealed he rejected a shock move to Manchester United during the January transfer window.
The Red Devils found themselves enthralled in a harrowing injury crisis last month with all five of their senior full-backs – Marcos Rojo, Matteo Darmian, Luke Shaw, Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia – sidelined and it appears they turned to the Japan international, who has represented his country on 88 occasions, to fill the void.
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As quoted by The Metro, the 29-year-old recently told Inter TV; “I like everything about Inter, I want to stay here and renew my contract. I turned down an offer from Manchester United, as my desire is to stay here. I have an excellent rapport with Roberto Mancini.”
Nagatomo’s comments come as some surprise. Although he’s a very experienced and versatile player, he’s struggled for game time at the San Siro this season, managing just nine starts in Serie A and only three appearances at left-back – the position he would most likely have filled for Manchester United.
Indeed, Alex Telles and Juan Jesus have featured there more regularly this season. But Nagatomo’s contract expires in the summer, so perhaps United thought they could land him in a cut-price deal to ease the burden of their injury woes.