In the midst of the summer transfer window, one Feyenoord defender attracted serious interest from both Manchester United and Liverpool.
David Hancko had just impressed for Slovakia at EURO 2024 and the centre-half was a favourite under Arne Slot as he won the Eredivisie and the Dutch Cup during his time in charge at De Kuip.
Similarly, United were keen to sign three centre-halves in the summer and after the signings of Matthijs De Ligt and Leny Yoro represented a significant outlay, Hancko, who can also play at left-back, was seen as a possible cut-price option.
In the end, a move never materialised and Hancko remained in Rotterdam where has become an important cog in new manager Brian Priske’s system.
Feyenoord make the trip to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, just one point adrift of City in the Champions League table.
Both of their wins so far have come away from home, as they beat Spanish side Girona 3-2 and dominated Benfica in an impressive 3-1 win in Lisbon.
Their domestic form has dipped since Slot’s departure, but the incentive of taking advantage of a City side who have lost five games in a row to secure a win that would move them ahead of the Premier League champions will be huge.
Hancko will be the man tasked with keeping Erling Haaland quiet in Manchester and, if he wants to prove his quality to potential Premier League suitors, there will be no better audition than that.
If he does, then a big club may well come calling in January but, more worryingly for City, it could compound their misery ahead of Sunday’s huge trip to Liverpool in the Premier League.
