Man Utd were rejected by Mikayil Faye as defender decided to join Rennes from Barcelona, agent claims

The agent of Faye has claimed that the Senegalese international turned down the chance to move to Old Trafford this summer as he did not want to leave Barcelona to join a club where he would not be a first team regular. The 20-year-old reluctantly went on to join Ligue 1 side Rennes in order to help Barcelona afford the signing of Dani Olmo.

Faye was likely considered by United as an alternative to Jarrad Branthwaite, with the Everton defender having been the club's first choice to strengthen at left centre-back. The England international's asking price proved too high, prompting United to explore more options. While Faye may have been on the club's shortlist, United eventually opted to sign defenders Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt instead.

Speaking to the Inkubator podcast, Faye's agent Andy Bara said: "Manchester United were interested in Faye, but he didn’t like that option. He wasn’t a regular at Barcelona, so what did it matter if he hadn’t had the same at United? His development wouldn’t have progressed at all.

"Barca wanted a buy-back clause in Faye's contract with Rennais, it was the only condition that Barça accepted. The clause is €30 million (£25m/$33m). Now everything depends on Faye, on how he is going to develop."

Faye has yet to feature for his new side since making the move to France at the end of August, however his agent believes the youngster will break into the Rennes first team within one or two months.

United, meanwhile, have suffered a number of injuries to first team defenders in the early part of the season, including new signing Yoro, indicating Faye may have had opportunities to impress had he joined the club.