Chelsea defender Emerson Palmieri was Manchester United's back-up option to Alex Telles, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Red Devils did end up signing the left-back on transfer deadline day, but in a surprising revelation, they were also interested in the Italy international who has slipped down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge following the arrival of Ben Chilwell.
Not since the summer of 2017 have the Blues sold a player to United when Nemanja Matic made the move - three years after Juan Mata made the same switch - and Romano has detailed just how close Emerson was to repeating that transfer trick.
"Many Manchester United fans told me, was it Nicolas Tagliafico from Ajax? No. They ask for Robin Gosens, no. They also ask for [Vitaliy] Mykolenko, no," Romano said on his Here We Go podcast.
"The real name, the plan B for United if they had problems with Alex Telles, was Emerson Palmieri from Chelsea.
"They were in talks with some agents around the situation of Emerson. It was nothing advanced because United always said they wanted to sign Alex Telles.
"When they started to talk about Emerson, they said, 'We want Telles, we will go for Telles'.
"Their first target has always been Telles but the back-up option was Emerson.
"It was a particular deal because Chelsea were open to loaning the player.
"Also in Italy for example to Juventus or to Inter, on a simple loan or with an option to buy, but paying his full salary.
"But not with United, obviously they are fighting with United over some important places in the Premier League - you can’t accept a loan.
"They were going to sell the player and that’s why United were not so convinced about him. They were convinced about the player but not about how to sign him from Chelsea.
"That’s why they went for Alex Telles and signed Alex Telles.
"They were not in talks with Chelsea, it was just an option with the agents, to say: 'Okay if we don’t get Telles, pay attention to the situation of Emerson, he can be a good option'."
