The three players Man Utd wanted to sign over Virgil van Dijk

Manchester United identified three centre-backs they wanted to pursue ahead of Virgil van Dijk before his Liverpool move

Manchester United decided not to pursue Virgil van Dijk prior to his move to Liverpool because they had other targets in mind.

Van Dijk was one of the Premier League's hottest properties when he left Southampton to Anfield in January 2018.

United and rivals Manchester City had tracked the Dutchman's situation, but then manager Jose Mourinho had more preferable targets in his sights, reports The Mirror .

Toby Alderweireld, Kalidou Koulibaly and Harry Maguire were the three players he had above Van Dijk on his shortlist.

The Tottenham star has less than a year to run on his current deal and United thought they could persuade the north Londoners into selling 12 months ago.

Their ambition of signing Koulibaly was always going to prove challenging given the huge price tag Napoli had placed on the Senegalese defender, rumoured to be around £100m.

Maguire however, having impressed for England at the World Cup, was highly thought of by Mourinho.

Van Dijk has proved to be the catalyst for Liverpool's recent success (Image: GETTY)

Ironically the club have returned this summer and succeeded in adding the Leicester man despite rejecting the Portuguese's wishes.

A sense of what might have been for the 'Special One'.

Mourinho had made it public knowledge that he was desperate to sign a centre-half at Old Trafford.

The club's failure to do so was certainly a component of a declining relationship that eventually led to his sacking.

While it may seem laughable that any player can be considered above Van Dijk given his last 18 months, United and City always believed he had set his heart on a move to Merseyside.

In another sense of irony, Van Dijk was present for Mourinho's last game in management, a 3-1 defeat at Anfield.