Manchester United made an attempt to get Marco Reus from Borussia Dortmund when negotiating Adnan Januzaj's loan to the Bundesliga side but were put off by the player's £60 million valuation, club sources have told ESPN FC.
United manager Louis van Gaal had been insistent on adding another forward player before Tuesday's deadline, on top of Monaco's Anthony Martial, and the Premier League side broached the idea of bringing in Reus when letting Januzaj go.
Dortmund were not totally resistant to the sale, and quoted United a price of £60m to begin discussions, but the Old Trafford club were only willing to go as far as £50m.
United are set to pay a reported fee of £36m for Martial, with sources telling ESPN FC that Monaco upped their price for the 19-year-old by £15m because they knew that United were eager to add a forward as Wayne Rooney remains the only senior striker in their squad.
Sources at United are, meanwhile, adamant that the club did absolutely everything correct in the controversial collapse of David De Gea's sale to Real Madrid, despite the Spanish club implying that the Red Devils were responsible for failure to beat the midnight deadline in La Liga.