The agent of Lucas Moura has revealed how close the Brazilian came to joining Manchester United in 2012.

Moura instead moved to PSG, where he spent six seasons, before eventually arriving in England with Tottenham.

The player's agent, Ribeiro, told UOL: "Everything was fine with Manchester United. The Brazilian was going to play in Manchester.

"But Leonardo entered the situation. He called me and said he was putting together a timaço (a great team), with Thiago Silva, Marquinhos and Ibrahimovic.

"He asked how much United would pay (for Lucas). I said it would be €36 million (£31 million). He said he would pay €45 million (£39 million).

"And how was the rest of the negotiation? I told Lucas that Paris was a beautiful city to live in. He asked to speak to his father. We got everything right and I told Gustavo (Oliveira, Sao Paulo's director) to fly to Paris."