Manchester United was offered James Rodríguez for £5 million as a teenager, but Sir Alex Ferguson instead decided to invest £7.4 million on Bebé.

Ferguson was close to securing Javier Hernández from Guadalajara at the time, but the agents attempting to bring Rodríguez to Europe received no response from United.

Rodríguez moved from Argentina to Portugal when he signed for Porto in 2010 for £4m, with 30% of the player’s economic rights retained by third parties, and was part of André Villas-Boas’s unbeaten team who claimed the domestic double and Europa League that season.

United was again interested in the January window of 2013.