Manchester United are believed to have been put off an approach for Antonio Conte because of the Italian’s enormous £250m transfer budget demands.
Conte was heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford last month when incumbent manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was fighting to save his job, before ultimately joining Tottenham instead.
Solskjaer was given backing from the United hierarchy following the 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool and will remain in charge for the time being, despite subsequent poor performances against Atalanta and Manchester City in the games outlined to turn things around.
90min revealed in October that Conte, who was out of work at that time after leaving Inter in summer, was interested in holding talks with United and was willing to listen had the club got in touch. There was, however, also scepticism from both sides over whether it would be the right fit.
In the end, United decided to take it no further and stuck with Solskjaer, who remains under significant pressure. Conte, meanwhile, accepted an offer from Spurs shortly afterwards, with Nuno Espirito Santo sacked by the north London club after a 3-0 defeat to Solskjaer’s United.
One of the factors behind United’s lack of formal approach for Conte has come to light. The Mirror reports that the Italian coach expected to be backed with a £250m transfer budget across the next two transfer windows in January and summer 2022.
Conte has previously spent big at former clubs Chelsea and Inter to build a squad capable of playing in his preferred tactical system. It has famously delivered success, but at significant expense.
It is said that United officials found that £250m figure ‘unacceptable’.
United have spent considerably in recent seasons to build up a squad many would agree is already not far off mounting serious challenges for major trophies, with around £140m invested on Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo alone coming into this season.
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Source : 90min