Manchester United have been informed they will only prise Diego Godin away from Atletico Madrid if they match his buyout clause.
The Daily Star says the Atletico defender has a buyout clause of £28.5million on his contract and will not be let go for anything less.
And it is believed that United do not want to pay that amount of money to secure the defender, who helped Atleti win the La Liga title last season.
Louis van Gaal is now expected to turn his attention to other defensive targets, such as Ron Vlaar, Winston Reid and Mats Hummels, but all of which might not be available in January.
