Manchester United have been dealt a massive blow is their pursuit of signing of Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera as the Basque club have rejected a whopping €36m bid from the Red Devils for the player.

The official statement read: “The Athletic Club wishes to report that this week rejected an offer from Manchester United FC, ​​estimated at 36 million euros, to transfer the federation and economic rights of the player Ander Herrera.”

Man Utd have an offer of about 36 million euros (£28.85m) for Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera rejected, the Spanish club says #MUFC

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 26, 2014

It was believed that Herrera, who has been a long term Manchester United target since last summer would sign for the Red Devils as early as this week.

It is believed that Bilbao don’t want to part with another of their prized assets after already having sold their top players over the past few seasons, the highlight of being Javi Martinez and Fernando Llorente to Bayern Munich and Juventus respectively.

Moreover, Bilbao’s theory of recruiting of only Basque players makes it tough for the club to sign a proper replacement. The Andalusian club would also have to have Real Zaragoza 4% (also called unity payment) of whatever they agree for the player since he was groomed by his previous club. However if United force a buyout, its is then the Red Devils who pays the amount to Zaragoza.

Thus the official news would come as a huge shock for United who are set to be dealt another short coming in the transfer market, now being unable to attract big names despite their brand image.