The Red Devils wanted to land a young centre-forward over the summer and they were initially keen on landing Ferguson.

The hierarchy made an offer of £50 million for the teenager, but Brighton laughed it off as it was way below the asking price.

The South Coast wanted at least £100m for the Republic of Ireland international and could ask for more next summer.

Ferguson is considered as one of the best young strikers in the Premier League and he recently scored his maiden hat-trick.

The likes of Chelsea and Arsenal are keeping tabs on him and there could be a bidding battle at the end of the campaign.

Meanwhile, United opted to land Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta BC for £64m up front after failing to pursue Ferguson.

It will be interesting to see whether the Red Devils break their club-record fee to sign him in around 10 months' time.

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