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Ryan Giggs revealed that Manchester United had the chance to recruit Kylian Mbappe when he was a teenager at Monaco but chose not to pursue the future France superstar. According to Giggs, United’s record appearance holder, the team first learned about Mbappe in 2015 while he was a youngster at Monaco, where the former Wales international was working as manager Louis van Gaal’s assistant.

Ryan Giggs Reveals Scouting Kylian Mbappe For Manchester United

Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Giggs recalled being approached in southern France by a man who urged him to watch the young Mbappe.

“So, I’m in the south of France. I was coaching United, so it’d be 2015. I’ve been for a walk in the local village and I’m walking back to the hotel. I’m walking on the beach back to the hotel. And you can feel, I can feel someone, you know, when you feel someone like following you,” he said.

Giggs added, “And I’m like, I get to the hotel and then all of a sudden I can feel someone coming up to me. Anyway, this guy is called Lionel, French guy. So 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 Man United.’”

Ryan Giggs Impressed With Young Mbappe at Monaco

Giggs said he subsequently passed the information to then United assistant coach Albert Stuivenberg, with the pair going to watch several Monaco youth matches.

“A few weeks later, he emailed me all the details. So me and Albert (Stuivenberg) again, who’s the coach with Arsenal, he was another assistant at United at the time. We used to in the afternoons just go and watch games or go and watch players at the training ground. So anyway, I’ve told him about this thing. He says ‘come on, let’s get him up.’ And we got a few youth games with Monaco and we seen him and just like, ‘wow, what is this?’ You know, you can see players and they can be special, but he did look exceptional, obviously,” said Giggs.

Manchester United Decline to Sign Kylian Mbappe

United’s scouting team subsequently watched Mbappe during a Monaco match against Paris Saint-Germain, but the club ultimately decided not to pursue the forward.

He further added, “So anyway, we told the 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?’ and he went ‘yeah, they weren’t too sure about him, so we just left it, and that was it.’”

Mbappe went on to join Paris Saint-Germain on loan from Monaco in 2017 before making the move permanent the following year. He later established himself as one of the world’s leading forwards with PSG, Real Madrid and France.

(With Agency Inputs)

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