Former Manchester United scout Derek Langley says they had Ajax pair Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt on their radar - before anyone else.

United are in the mix to sign the Ajax pair, but they're not favourites to do so despite allegedly having put in considerable legwork in the past.

Langley told the Manchester Evening News: "Matthijs de Ligt. We had God knows how many reports on Matthijs de Ligt.

"Frenkie de Jong and all these players now are sort of around Europe.

"Dayot Upamecano, who is now at Red Bull Leipzig, was another. I think it was possibly part of my downfall as to why seven months down the line I was removed because I wouldn't tow the line in relation to telling them exactly what I thought.

"It's one of them things in football - you come to accept it.

"Manchester United thanked me for the time I spent there and the players I'd taken in, but ultimately we could have been so much better if people had listened."