Manchester United pulled out of the race to sign Mathys Tel as Bayern Munich excluded a buy option in a deal, talkSPORT understands.
The Red Devils had two loan offers rejected for the striker over the weekend, with the 19-year-old now instead set to join Tottenham.
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United were thought to have been Tel’s main suitors after the player had initially rebuffed the opportunity to head to north London.
Spurs had agreed a permanent transfer for the Bayern Munich forward, only for him to snub a switch on Friday.
However, Tel underwent a U-turn over the weekend following talks with Ange Postecoglou over Zoom.
He will now spend the rest of the campaign at Tottenham on a straight loan with no buy option.
The change of heart may have been made easier by United’s withdrawal from negotiations due to the terms of the deal.
It is believed the United hierarchy weren’t keen on taking the risk of shelling out a high loan fee for an unproven young player.
The Red Devils baulked at the requested £6.6million loan fee with no option to turn Tel’s arrival into a permanent stay.
In addition to the exclusion of a buy option, Spurs are also covering the entirety of Tel’s salary during his stay in England.
United meanwhile are working under very tight financial constraints, with any money spent in January reducing their summer budget.
United reported a loss in excess of £113m for last season, taking their three-year losses to a whopping £254.7m, taking them over the Premier League’s PSR limit of £105m.
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They were able to make suitable adjustments to the losses to work in their favour by the inclusion of spending on other areas of the club, including the refurbishment of the club’s Carrington Training base and the £50m tunnel improvements at Old Trafford.
United were also helped in their efforts to comply with PSR by being granted permission to claim a COVID allowance totalling £40m for the 2021/22 season.
Failing to qualify for the Champions League for a second successive year though will incur further financial penalties.
The 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace left United in 13th – already 12 points adrift of neighbours Man City in fourth.
It underlined Ruben Amorim‘s need for more firepower, with Marcus Rashford and Antony both completing loan moves away.
Neither Joshua Zirkzee nor Rasmus Hojlund started the loss at Old Trafford on Sunday, with Kobbie Mainoo operating as a false nine.
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talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent Alex Crook revealed last week that £72m signing Hojlund is fighting to save his United future.
The Dane is enduring a miserable season having scored only two league goals and is currently on a 12-match Premier League drought.
Zirkzee has flattered to deceive as his replacement, having largely struggled since signing in a £36.5m deal from Bologna last summer.
The Dutchman has only scored one more Premier League goal than Hojlund and a return to Italy could be on the cards.
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Juventus offered Dusan Vlahovic to United as part of a deal for Zirkzee at the start of the window, but a move failed to materialise.
The collapse in a potential loan for Tel has meant Amorim has been left with just new signings – both of whom are defenders.
United captured Patrick Dorgu and Ayden Heaven from Lecce and Arsenal, respectively, with the pair both unveiled for fans on Sunday.
As for Tel, he attracted interest from Arsenal and Chelsea as well as United before finally settling on a loan to Tottenham.
With Spurs legend Harry Kane ahead in Vincent Kompany‘s pecking order, Tel has struggled for minutes at Bayern this season.
He has been limited to just eight Bundesliga outings – starting on just two occasions – and is yet to score.
