Bayern Munich summer signing Dayot Upamecano says he was extremely close to joining Manchester United as a teenager, but turned them down in favour of an Austrian second division side in order to experience first-team football.
Upamecano, 22, has impressed for RB Leipzig in recent years, earning a move to Bayern at the end of the season for a reported £38m, while United were interested in him signing before his future was decided.
However, things could have looked a lot different for the French international as he revealed an approach from United in 2015 almost turned his head in the direction of England.
While the 17-year-old Upamecano initially wanted to sign there and then, he was persuaded by former RB Salzburg and RB Leipzig sporting director Ralf Rangnick to join feeder club Liefering to play senior football immediately.
Liefering play in the Austrian second division, and Upamecano would spend a year there learning his trade against senior professionals before moving to Salzburg. From there, he made the £4.5m move to Leipzig in 2017 and hasn't looked back.
Speaking to the Athletic, Upamecano revealed how he made the decision to turn down an approach from United.
He said: “I was a young boy. I wanted to sign for them straight away. Manchester United!
"But then my parents took me aside and said: ‘Let’s think carefully about this’. We thought about it for a long time and then decided that going ‘etape par etape’ (step by step) was the best option for me.
“Everything Ralf said came true.”
United's former head of youth recruitment, Derek Langley, told the MEN in 2019 that United turned down the chance to sign Upamecano, as well as Juventus defender Matthijs de Light.
