Edinson Cavani’s contract demands kept the door open for him to join Manchester United, with Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira revealing that he was looking to put a deal in place at one stage.
Experienced frontman Cavani dropped into the free agent pool when severing ties with Paris Saint-Germain.
He departed Parc des Princes in July and was not snapped up by United until the final day of the summer transfer window in October.
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Various landing spots had been mooted for him by then, with La Liga giants Atletico Madrid seemingly leading the chase at one stage as interest intensified.