RAYAN AIT-NOURI could have been snapped up by Manchester United – had the Red Devils not gotten distracted.
The Man City left back was offered to United on loan this summer as the Algeria international continues to struggle for minutes at the Etihad.
Rayan Ait-Nouri could have been snapped up by Manchester United this summer Credit: Getty
Carlos Baleba was the distraction away from left-back, that may come back to bite Credit: Getty
But Ait-Nouri would likely have demanded a pretty price in the obligation to buy.
And it seems that United were not up to it, especially given their constant pursuit for Newcastle’s Lewis Hall.
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Ait-Nouri, who joined City in 2025, was not seen as the perfect template for a long-term solution in that position.
Instead, United bagged Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Aston Villa’s Youri Tielemans to lock down the midfield.
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The Old Trafford hierarchy were seemingly hunting for a third as more links emerged between Roma’s Manu Kone and alike.
Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly was tipped to move into a left back and/or midfielder role in the North West.
But the 19-year-old remained with the Premier League champions, who he has been with since his academy days.
And once the pursuit of both England internationals had flopped, Man Utd turned their attention to midfielder Carlos Baleba.
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United signed the Cameroon midfielder, 22, in a £70m deal from Brighton.
Then, as the transfer window reached the 11th hour, Michael Carrick and the hierarchy were left scrambling for the midfield/left-back role.
And had they gone for 25-year-old Ait-Nouri, they may be in a better spot now.
The French-born ace has made 32 appearances since the £31million move from Wolves.
This season, he has only featured for 15 minutes in their Champions League 2-0 win over Porto – where he claimed an assist.
Meanwhile, United have only claimed FOUR points from their opening four games in the Prem season.
Despite a convincing Champions League 4-0 victory over Azabajiani side Sabah, they have conceded as many goals as they have scored in the league – securing just a singular win over Ipswich.
Luke Shaw, Patrick Dorgu, Harry Amass, Noussair Mazraaoui are all names that can be called up to help fill in Carrick’s cracks.
It has been a stuttering start for the Prem giants, but this week in particular has been a hard watch.
It has been a bad week at Old Trafford after United’s controversial 1-0 derby defeat on Jattvibeday, as well as the major fan protests against United co-owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazers.
And to add to the despair, 15-year-old wonderkid JJ Gabriel has asked to leave the club with immediate effect.
United – who sit in 13th – will host Brighton on Wednesday evening in the third round of the Carabao Cup, before travelling to struggling Fulham at the weekend.
