Manchester United had already a deal in place to sign Robert Lewandowski back in 2012, but then decided to sign Robin van Persie instead, according to a report from The Independent.
United secured the service of van Persie from Arsenal in 2012 summer for £24million, as the Dutch striker went on to score 58 goals across three seasons, eventually winning one Premier League title.
However, van Persie’s spell at Old Trafford came to an abrupt end at the beginning of this term, with the 32-year-old Dutchman joining Turkish giants Fenerbahce, but The Independent now claim, things could have been rather different with Manchester United.
As per Jack de Menezes’ report, the Red Devils had initially agreed ‘a deal in principle’ to bring in Robert Lewandowski in summer 2012, but instead they decided to sign van Persie and the Polish striker, five years junior to van Persie, then with Borussia Dortmund, eventually joined Bayern Munich as a free player two years later.
De Menezes also claims that Manchester United still maintain an interest in the 27-year-old goalmachine, but the Polish striker is more likely to make a move to Real Madrid instead.
There were several reports which suggested Manchester United were earlier planning to offer Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski a mouth-watering contract of £11million-per-year to snatch him away from Bayern Munich.
Lewandowski has been in blistering form for Bayern Munich this season, scoring 17 goals in 17 Bundesliga appearances with 3 assists and Louis van Gaal has already revealed his desire to bring more pace to his attacking line and Lewandowski, whose current contract with Bayern runs until 2019, would certainly fit the bill.
Apart from Manchester United and Liverpool, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain have also been closely connected with the Poland striker, who has now become one of Europe’s most feared goalmachine.
Liverpool jumped into the race as soon as Jurgen Klopp took charge at Anfield, a potential link between Klopp and Lewandowski naturally resurfaced given the good relationship Klopp and Lewandowski had during their time at Borussia Dortmund.