Manchester United made advances to sign Conor Gallagher in the final days of the summer transfer window – with Ruben Amorim willing to sacrifice Kobbie Mainoo to make the deal happen, according to a report.
A rejected loan offer
The Red Devils have been on the hunt for a “dynamic midfielder” all summer after Amorim identified a lack of physicality in the middle of the pitch as a weakness in his squad.
The club’s first-choice target – Brighton starlet Carlos Baleba – proved an unrealistic option, however, after the Seagulls refused to entertain negotiations, with a price well in excess of £100 million believed to be required to change their mind.
Other names were considered, such as Ederson (Atalanta), Morten Hjulmand (Sporting CP) and Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace), but United appear set on Baleba and will return for the Cameroon international next summer.
This led the club to consider cheaper alternatives – with Lyon midfielder Corentin Tolisso one name floated.
But it was an England international, currently plying his trade in La Liga, who United launched a late raid for: Gallagher, Atletico Madrid’s 25-year-old midfield dynamo.
Fabrizio Romano reveals United submitted a “loan proposal” for the former Chelsea star, who joined Atleti for £36 million last summer.
🚨 Manchester United have had a loan proposal rejected by Atlético Madrid for Conor Gallagher.
United asked for Gallagher but no plans for Atléti to let him leave on loan.
Same answer was received by Crystal Palace one week ago.
🎥 https://t.co/BpUj1dfBMD pic.twitter.com/Bp6KcU9bCL
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 4, 2025
Tweet: “Manchester United have had a loan proposal rejected by Atlético Madrid for Conor Gallagher. United asked for Gallagher but no plans for Atléti to let him leave on loan. Same answer was received by Crystal Palace one week ago.”
This was immediately rejected, however, as the Spanish side have “no plans” to let Gallagher leave on loan, after Crystal Palace – where Gallagher enjoyed a successful campaign in the 2021/22 season, being nominated for the PFA Team of the Year – received the same answer a week prior.
Mainoo out, Gallagher in?
Football Transfers reveals Amorim was keen on Gallagher to help “bolster his options in midfield” who the Portuguese coach saw as “a more tenacious and mobile alternative” than the current cohort in his squad.
The report states the 25-year-old star has been a “long-term target” for Amorim and United with interest expressed in the January transfer window – but they were told to revisit at the end of the season.
At the point that United returned this summer, Atletico informed their English counterparts that a “loan deal was not possible” and only permanent bids would be considered.
United were “unable and unwilling to fund a permanent move” with the club informing Amorim that Kobbie Mainoo – who had asked to leave on loan before the September 1 deadline – would remain at Old Trafford and “no new player would be drafted in” in his place.
Football Transfers contends this “frustrated” the 40-year-old coach who has been “left with a player who had made it clear he did not want to be with Man Utd this summer…when Gallagher was seen as a possible signing.”
“Football Transfers understands that Amorim has been left frustrated that Mainoo’s request for a loan move away was rejected by the club’s hierarchy, with the Portuguese having aimed to bring in a midfielder of his own” – Gallagher.
As a Premier League proven midfielder, with a wealth of international and Champions League experience, Gallagher would have been a superb short-term signing to plug an obvious gap in United’s squad.
But if it had come at the cost of a prodigious talent like Mainoo, it would quickly have soured into an unwise deal.
Feature image Michael Regan via Getty Images
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
