Tottenham missed out on signing Bruno Fernandes last summer after refusing to meet Sporting Lisbon's valuation, the Portuguese club's president Frederico Varandas has claimed.
A long-running transfer saga and protracted negotiations with Sporting Lisbon finally bore fruit last Thursday as the 25-year-old completed his switch to Old Trafford.
Fernandes arrived to much fanfare and a fee that could reach £67.2million, but the midfielder comfortably dealt with the pressure in a promising debut against Wolves last weekend.
But, before arriving in Manchester, Fernandes was heavily touted with a move to their Premier League rivals Tottenham- only for a Deadline Day switch fail to materalise.
And now Sporting's chief has explained why that move fell through.
“At the end of June, we had become aware that we were going to sell Bruno," Varandas told Portuguese newspaper Record.
"We had already signed Camacho, Rosier and Vietto, and we wanted to bring in a striker and a midfielder who were practically closed.
"The last four days of this market were the worst of my presidency, that’s when I realised that we didn’t sell Bruno Fernandes.
“Bruno’s sale was very conditioned by his return. If Sporting refused a bid of €35m, we would have to give his agent €5m. This clause was made public irresponsibly.
"It was one of the things that seriously penalised us. And it was only in this window that Sporting took that weight off our shoulders, to go and negotiate."
Sporting needed to make €115million to stay afloat financially and Varandas had admitted this was the key reason behind rejecting Spurs' interest and ultimately accepting United's bid.
“There are no non-negotiable players," Varandas added. "Bruno Fernandes is the proof. And it was an obligation. We wouldn’t be able to reach €115m without [selling] him.
"With the sale in January, for €63m practically certain, it was shown that we did well to resist and not to accept the proposal of Tottenham.”
