Jose Mourinho wanted to make World Cup winner Raphael Varane his first signing following his move to Manchester United .
Mourinho took over at Old Trafford in 2016 and immediately set his sights on challenging for the Premier League title.
While successor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer changed United's transfer approach and moved for hungry, young British stars, that summer was all about bringing in stellar names.
Mourinho brought in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but before that a central defender was a priority.
Having managed Varane at Real Madrid , Mourinho wanted to take the Frenchman to Old Trafford.
AS reports Mourinho set his sights on bringing in Varane but Zinedine Zidane convinced he defender to remain at the Bernabeu.
And it worked out for both parties, with Varane helping Real win back-to-back Champions League titles.
He has since cemented his standing as one of the best central defenders in the world, helping France to World Cup glory in 2018.
Mourinho instead switched his attention to Eric Bailly, with the Ivorian moving to Old Trafford in a £30m deal.
But despite a promising start, the transfer has not really paid off with Bailly struggling with injury problems throughout his Old Trafford career.
He is currently sidelined with a knee problem sustained in pre-season and is not expected to return until the new year.
United have struggled with central defenders since the departures of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic with the likes of Marcos Rojo, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Daley Blind all failing to nail down a regular spot.
Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof have now emerged as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first choice pairing.
