Manchester United failed to make any new signings in the January transfer window, and it could be something the board live to regret after it was revealed that a fierce rival signed one of Ralf Rangnick's targets, who has been flourishing since he arrived in the Premier League.

Liverpool signed Luis Diaz from Porto for an initial fee of £37m on a five-and-a-half year deal on Deadline Day, and Fabrizio Romano has now revealed that the German interim coach was refused the opportunity to sign the winger.

[snack-amp-story url= "https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-man-united-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-more-nunez-ten-hag-nkunku-richarlison" title="Read the latest Man United news!"]

Romano tweeted: "Ralf Rangnick reveals he wanted a new striker at Man Utd in January: “But the answer from the board was: ‘No’. There were Luís Díaz, who is now at Liverpool; Julián Álvarez, who will be at Man City in the summer; and Vlahovic, who at the time was still with Fiorentina."

Following the dismissal of Rangnick's player wish-list back in January, the Man United board are surely rueing their decision not to sign the Columbian forward who has made a huge instant impact just a few miles down the road.

In the short time since joining Liverpool less than five months ago, the 21-goal star who is now believed to be worth £60m has established himself as a starter pushing Diogo Jota out of the starting line-up, tallying up five goals and three assists which is a better goal contribution than Marcus Rashford and Anthony Elanga in less than half a season.

Diaz has also created two big chances, making 1.5 key passes on average per game, as well as being successful in the majority of his dribbles (66%) and completing an average pass accuracy of 88%, proving that he is not afraid to impose himself on his opponents, links up play well and has become an absolute nightmare for anyone he comes up against in the Premier League.

A player just like the left winger is exactly what Manchester United have been crying out for all season, with Rashford failing to hit the ground running throughout the season, and with speculation mounting about the winger's future, Diaz would have been the ideal replacement should the Mancunian forward leave this summer.

The United board and Erik ten Hag cannot afford to miss the chance to snap up a player of this calibre again and must identify players this summer that can make a similar level of impact that Diaz has made at Liverpool this season if they stand any chance of competing for trophies next season.

AND in other news: Forget McTominay: MUFC must brutally axe "pathetic" dud who won 0 duels v Brighton