Manchester United failed in an £85 million attempt to sign Thomas Muller from Bayern Munich last summer, according to the German club's executive vice-chairman.
Jan-Christian Dreesen of Bayern says the bid came from Old Trafford soon after José Mourinho was announced as manager of Manchester United, in May 2016.
In an interview with German newspaper Bild, Dreesen claims that the two clubs didn't even discuss the fee, which equates to about €100 million (about $106 million.)
"Then came a fax from England. For us, however, a sale of Thomas Muller was never discussed," he said.
"If a player fits us, we would be stupid to give him a short-term prospect of a record profit and to weaken him."
But Bayern may regret not cashing in on the German forward, as Muller has scored just one league goal this season and found himself on the bench for the duration of a match against Wolfsburg last week.
Manchester United, meanwhile, still spent lavishly last summer, bringing Eric Bailly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba to Old Trafford for more than £145 million (about $180 million).
All three acquisitions have fit in well for Mourinho, becoming regulars in the first-team, which is sixth in the Premier League table.
Manchester United prepares to face St-Etienne in the Europa League first knockout stage on Thursday, while Bayern has been drawn against Premier League opposition in the Champions League.
Arsene Wenger's Arsenal is in Munich for the first leg of the round of 16 tie on Wednesday.
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