Manchester United target set to reject Red Devils to stay in Champions League

There were some fun new rumours on Friday night, with Jamie Jackson in the Guardian throwing another name into Ed Woodward's magic transfer hat. And it's quite a name. Apparently Manchester United have been scouting Ukraine international Yevhen Konoplyanka of Dnipro, tempted by his buyout clause of little over £12 million.

Alas, TBB doesn't often get to watch Dnipro, but we do remember the 24-year-old scoring a wondergoal at Wembleya couple of years ago, as well as being one of Ukraine's stars at Euro 2012. Though he doesn't seem averse to cutting inside and having a go at goal, he does seem to fit Louis van Gaal's wide winger bill.

Then again, the transfer would've been worth the £12m alone just to laugh at Liverpool, who have been chasing him for ages.

But before you get too excited, Russian football expert Artur Petrosyan poured cold water over a potential switch:

Konoplyanka: "Man United? I'd rather stay at Dnipro and play in the Champions League".

— Artur Petrosyan (@arturpetrosyan) May 23, 2014

It may or may not be significant that Petrosyan seems to be a Liverpool fan, but that looks fairly definitive.

If true, it's the first example of a player rejecting United on grounds of the absence of Champions League football. Considering that barring another summer transfer disaster we'll only be without Europe's Premier Club Competition for one season, that does leave us, in the timeless words of Wayne Rooney, "angry and confused."