Manchester United's winter transfer window ended without them adding a new forward, and it has been claimed their failure came down to as little as £5million. A number of attacking options presented themselves during the window, with loan exits for Antony and Marcus Rashford helping free up some wage budget. By the time the final few days of the window rolled around, though, Mathys Tel looked the most likely arrival.

On Sunday evening, though, it emerged that Tel's move to Old Trafford had collapsed. Rashford still completed his exit that same evening, but United weren't able to find an alternative. It leaves Ruben Amorim light in attack for the second half of the season, with the head coach hoping to get more change out of the so-far-underwhelming Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee. Things were already bad enough, but Tottenham's successful deadline day swoop for Tel put United's failings in even sharper focus.

According to The Athletic, Bayern's demands were more than United were prepared to meet. The demands in question? A £5m loan fee, with no buy option at the end of the deal. United found the money to meet Lecce's demands for left-back Patrick Dorgu, considering the left wing-back position to be their top priority. They also completed a move for Ayden Heaven, with compensation for the Arsenal youngster reported to be in the region of £1.5m, but that extra £5m for Tel was deemed more than they were willing to pay.

Some fans will have been left frustrated by that outcome on its own, but more questions will be asked after Spurs ultimately did manage to get a buy option included in their loan for the French youngster. It might be reasonable for some to wonder why United weren't able to negotiate the same thing. How would you rate Manchester United's transfer window? Have your say in the comments section. It is understood a private phone call between Tel and Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou ultimately convinced the player to make the move to north London, having initially been reluctant.

United's issues were laid bare 24 hours before deadline day, when they slumped to a 2-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace to end the weekend in 13th, Dorgu and Heaven were presented before the defeat, though, and the former has laid out his hopes ahead of a potential debut against Leicester City in the FA Cup. "It's a huge club. It's the biggest club in England and I'm really looking forward to working with the new manager [Ruben Amorim] and I feel the system suits me really well. So I'm excited to be here," Dorgu told club media.

"For me, [mental strength is] the most important thing because there's a lot of talk about and around football," he added. "And you really need to be strong outside of football as well. "And, when I've been in Italy, I've lived alone. Of course, my family is visiting me a lot, but you need to be really good mentally to stay focused and being concentrated on football.". Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.