Lazio president Claudio Lotito has confirmed the club will not be making a move for Manchester United midfielder Fred at the request of manager Maurizio Sarri.
Lazio have lost Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to Al Hilal this summer and are on the hunt for potential reinforcements, and reports in Italy have named Lazio as potential suitors for Fred as he inches towards the exit door at Old Trafford.
While Lotito was willing to make a move for Fred, he has now revealed that the plan was blocked by Sarri himself.
"I was prepared to open talks with Man Utd and bid for Fred, but Maurizio Sarri told me no - he doesn’t want Fred," Lotito told Il Messaggero.
"He did the same with [Tottenham midfielder Giovani] Lo Celso. Sarri wants [Piotr] Zielinski and [Samuele] Ricci."
READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP
United remain keen to offload Fred this summer and 90min understands progress has been made in talks with Turkish giants Galatasaray, who have already seen one bid knocked back for the 30-year-old midfielder.
Scott McTominay is also facing an uncertain future at United after attracting interest from West Ham United.
Mason Mount has already been signed to bolster Erik ten Hag's midfield and the Dutch boss is hopeful of making another addition, with Fiorentina's Sofyan Amrabat known to be high on his wish list.
United are also interested in versatile Ajax star Mohammed Kudus, who played as a midfielder under Ten Hag in Amsterdam but impressed in a more attacking role last season.
LISTEN NOW TO THE PROMISED LAND, 90MIN'S MAN UTD PODCAST
On this edition of The Promised Land, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders and Rob Blanchette discuss Sofyan Amrabat's suitability to replace McFred in midfield and whether there's any truth in links to Kylian Mbappe. If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
Come and join us in Las Vegas from July 28th at United Con, the place to be for United fans to come together on their pre-season tour of the US. Visit united-con.com to book your place now.
This article was originally published on 90min as Serie A side respond to links to Man Utd midfielder.