Man United transfer news: Former Chelsea star 'denied' Old Trafford move on deadline day

Manchester United allegedly held an interest in signing Atletico Madrid midfielder Conor Gallagher during the closing stages of the summer transfer window.

Despite making major additions to his attacking department, Ruben Amorim has been eager to sign a new central midfielder ahead of the September 1 deadline.

Instead, the Red Devils failed to bring in someone to strengthen one of their weakest areas of the pitch at a time when an England international wanted to leave.

Amorim prevented Kobbie Mainoo from departing the Theatre of Dreams, despite the 20-year-old being restricted to one substitute appearance in the Premier League this season.

However, it appears that United made an attempt to find an alternative to Mainoo ahead of the market closing until January.

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Why did Man United fail to sign Gallagher?

According to the Daily Mail, Man United were interested in negotiating a deal with Atletico for former Chelsea star Gallagher.

Since his arrival in Madrid just over 12 months ago, Gallagher has been used on 53 occasions by head coach Diego Simeone.

Just 29 of those outings have come from the starting lineup, and the 25-year-old has only been introduced as a substitute in the last two La Liga fixtures.

Nevertheless, Atletico had no intention of giving the green light to a loan deal for Gallagher when interested teams would struggle to meet his asking price.

Atletico paid £36m to sign Gallagher from Chelsea and would realistically demand a bigger fee on the back of his regular outings in Spain.

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Amorim left with limited midfield options

As a result of failing to add a fresh face to his engine room, Amorim has five players to select from between now and the start of 2026.

Casemiro, Manuel Ugarte, Mainoo, Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount are viewed as the players in contention, with Casemiro, Fernandes and Mount viewed ahead of the other two in the pecking order.

With only Premier League football on the calendar until the start of next year, Amorim will hope that regular work on the training ground will lead to him finding an effective partnership for his 3-4-2-1 formation.