Victor Lindelof's agent has claimed Barcelona made several attempts to sign the Man Utd star during the summer.
Hasan Cetinkaya represents the Swedish defender, and stated Lindelof was subject to interest from Barca after they were beaten to the signature of former Ajax talent Matthijs de Ligt.
Lindelof initially struggled after arriving at Old Trafford from Benfica in 2017.
The £39.5 million centre-back found his feet last season though, and one of the more consistent performers in United's ranks, which seemingly alerted the Spanish champions.
Cetinkaya said: "Lindelof was perhaps Man Utd's best player last season, and there was a lot of interest from clubs that are even better [than United] at the moment.
"When Matthijs De Ligt chose Juventus , Victor was pronounced Barcelona's first choice. His way of playing, his DNA, is very close to Barcelona's way of playing.
"He is one of the world's best centre-backs with the ball at his feet, and Barcelona wanted him. That's how it was. I can talk about that now.
"They contacted Ed Woodward on numerous occasions with concrete offers. I had a meeting with their transfer manager, Matt Judge, to try to make a transition.
"But they just said: 'There is no chance. Victor is one of our best players'. It ended up being a new agreement instead, even though Victor actually had three years left.
"Usually, they do not make extensions with players who have so long left on the contract, but when there was an interest at this level they had no other option."
Lindelof penned fresh terms at the Red Devils earlier this month which saw him commit to the club until 2024.
He has been a regular starter under boss Ole Gunner Solskjaer, who has been pairing Lindelof with new £80 million buy Harry Maguire as United's new centre-back partnership.
