Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Josip Juranovic was one of Manchester United's 'secret options' in the January transfer window prior to his recent switch.
The Lowdown: Juranovic joins Union Berlin
The Croatian made the move from Celtic to German Bundesliga outfit Union Berlin for a fee of around £10m.
Juranovic spent a season and a half with the Scottish Premiership side, where he featured 53 times in all competitions, scoring six times and assisting on three occasions.
Before completing the move to Germany, the Daily Record reported that Celtic were waiting to see if the Premier League side would up their interest in the player.
The Lowdown: Juranovic was one of their 'secret options'
Romano spoke on The United Stand YouTube channel about the interest in the full-back, claiming they could've moved for Juranovic if Erik ten Hag found a club willing to sign Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
He said: "I'm told that he was one of the secret options of Manchester United in case they found a solution for Wan-Bissaka.
"But then they decided to stay with him, and so this is why I think they really wanted to sign a right-back. They had the opportunity with Juranovic and many others."
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The Verdict: Stick with Wan-Bissaka
We believe that for now, the Red Devils were right to stick with Wan-Bissaka whilst Diogo Dalot is out after suffering an injury against Charlton Athletic in the Carabao Cup.
The 25-year-old has received praise for his shifts at right-back, including from former Crystal Palace teammate Wilfried Zaha, who was in awe of his goal-saving challenge on him last week when he spoke to Sky Sports (via The Mirror).
The stats show that Wan-Bissaka arguably has more impressive defensive stats than Juranovic from the last 365 days, with the Man United man averaging 3.43 tackles per 90 minutes as well as 2.34 interceptions.
As for the Croatian, his tally comes out at 2 tackles and 0.83 interceptions per match over the past year.
Juranovic has yet to play in the Premier League, which is perhaps another reason Ten Hag may have opted to stick with what he has. Wan-Bissaka is certainly more experienced in England's top flight with 138 games played for the Red Devils and Palace, and it could have been an unnecessary risk to sell, particularly in light of Dalot's injury issues.