Jose Mourinho, who this summer returned to Real Madrid, was from the summer of 2018 until he was fired on my birthday on December 18th manager of Manchester United. (Replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.) – During that period, the bosses at Old Trafford were looking for a superstar of Kylian Mbappe’s calibre and were close to a transfer, but…

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Why Mbappé missed out on Manchester United – the irony is palpable

For Saturday’s home clash at the Santiago Bernabeu against Rayo Vallecano, Jose Mourinho will not only start with Kylian Mbappe, but also build his attacking strategy around the French superstar.

Ryan Giggs has revealed how Manchester United let the world’s biggest talent slip away – and why Kylian Mbappé himself turned down Old Trafford. The irony? The man he supposedly didn’t want to play under is now his boss at Real Madrid.

Imagine having the world’s most sought-after football talent within reach – and just letting him go. That’s exactly what Manchester United did with Kylian Mbappé.

Erling Haaland’s people have already had meetings about a €175 million transfer

Now Ryan Giggs is lifting the veil on the history that still makes United fans squirm in their chairs.

The recommendation that was ignored

The Welsh club legend was in the south of France when he was stopped by a man named Lionel – a big United supporter who followed French youth football closely.

“He came up to me and said, ‘You have to look at this player. His name is Kylian Mbappé. He’s at Monaco and I think he’s a player for Manchester United,'” Giggs told Rio Ferdinand Presents.

A few weeks later, the email with all the details was dumped in. Giggs took his assistant at the time, Albert Stuivenberg, to watch the boy play.

“We saw him and we were like, ‘Wow, what is this?’ You can see players who are special, but he was obviously exceptional.

The recommendation passed on to the club’s scouts. They even traveled to Paris to see him in action against PSG.

Then came the answer.

“A few weeks later, I asked, ‘How did it go?’ The answer was, ‘No, they weren’t quite sure about him, so we just left it at that.’ And that was it.

91 goals later

United’s scouts concluded that Mbappé was not up to the mark. Answer today? 91 goals in 108 games for Real Madrid – and status as one of the world’s very best players in his prime.

Many believe the French superstar will soon lift the Ballon d’Or. But that’s not the whole story. Because Mbappé also had his own – and far more ironic – reasons for staying away from Old Trafford.

Hated the Mourinho style

According to L’Équipe , Mbappé has privately made it clear that he was not interested in United because of then-manager José Mourinho and his football philosophy. He is also said to have been concerned about playing time, with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial already in the attacking line.

The irony? Today, Mbappé and Mourinho are reunited – at Real Madrid, where the Portuguese was brought back by Florentino Pérez after a turbulent 2025/26 season.

The man Mbappé allegedly did not want to play under is now the man who leads him.

The Mourinho effect in Madrid

So far, things have gone well. Mourinho has won three out of four LaLiga games and opened the Champions League with a win.

But it’s hard to ignore the irony: Nine years ago, Mourinho and his future star player were kept apart – because the player allegedly didn’t like the way the Portuguese wanted to play football.

Sometimes fate has a strange sense of humor.