Man United scouts shamed for huge Kylian Mbappe blunder that could’ve changed the course of the club’s history | OneFootball

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Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs has explained how the club turned down the chance to sign Kylian Mbappe before he had become a household name. The French superstar exploded onto the scene with Monaco, before earning a blockbuster move to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in 2017, initially on loan before the move was made permanent in 2018.

Mbappe spent seven seasons at the Parc des Princes, where he transformed into one of the best players in the world and won several trophies, including six Ligue 1 titles. The 2018 World Cup winner also reached the 2019/20 Champions League final, where the Parisians came up second best against Bayern Munich.

The Frenchman, meanwhile, ended his stay with PSG in the summer of 2024, moving to Real Madrid as a free agent. Mbappe has continued his goalscoring exploits at the Santiago Bernabeu, although he is yet to win the league or the Champions League.

Nevertheless, he remains one of the most potent strikers in the world right now. Yet the French superstar could have been plying his trade at the Theatre of Dreams had things been a little different.

How Giggs learned about Mbappe

Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, Giggs recalled how he learned about Mbappe from a random United fan. He said: “So, I’m in the south of France. I’ve been for a walk in the local village and I’m walking back to the hotel.”

“And I can feel someone, you know, when you feel someone like following you. I get to the hotel and then all of a sudden I can feel someone coming up to me.”

“This guy is called Lionel. He comes up to me and says, ‘hi, I’m Lionel. I just wanted to just say hello. I’m a big United fan and big fan of yours. But I watch a lot of youth football in France, and you have to look at this player. He’s called Kylian Mbappé. He’s at Monaco and I think he’s a player for Manchester United.’”

Kylian Mbappe: Stats by Club

United scouts turned down Mbappe

Giggs went on to reveal that he was spellbound when he first watched Mbappe in action. He continued: “A few weeks later, he emailed me all the details. So me and Albert, he was another assistant at United at the time, I’ve told him about this thing.”

“We go to a few youth games with Monaco and we’ve seen him (Mbappe) and we were just like, ‘wow, what is this?’ You can see players and they can be special, but he did look exceptional, obviously.”

Giggs’ first reaction was to inform the United scouting team, but unfortunately, the club were not convinced after initial scouting. The Welshman concluded: “We told the (United) scouting team. They went to watch him. Someone in France went to watch him and he was actually playing PSG.”

“Monaco were playing PSG. So they went to Paris to watch him. Anyway, I think a few weeks later, I said to this guy, ‘how did it go?’ He went, ‘yeah, they weren’t too sure about him, so we just left it’. And that was it.”

Final Thoughts

United’s decision not to pursue a deal for Mbappe paints a dismal picture of the club’s scouting network in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. Thankfully, things have improved of late, with the Red Devils now keeping an eye out for emerging talents in the country and abroad.