Ryan Giggs says Manchester United passed up chance to sign Kylian Mbappe

Ryan Giggs says Manchester United were offered the chance to sign Kylian Mbappe while the forward was still a youth player at Monaco, but the club’s scouts were not convinced he was the right player to pursue.

Giggs, who was part of Manchester United’s coaching staff between 2014 and 2016, recalled first hearing about Mbappe while he was in the south of France. He was speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.

“I was in the south of France. I was on the Manchester United coaching staff, so it would have been in 2015. I walked around the local village and then walked back to the hotel,” Giggs said.

“I was walking along the beach back to the hotel and I felt someone following me. I got to the hotel and suddenly felt someone approaching me. Anyway, this guy was called Lionel, and he was French.”

Giggs said Lionel introduced himself as a Manchester United supporter before recommending that the club take a closer look at a promising young player.

“He came up to me and said: ‘Hello, I’m Lionel. I just wanted to say hello. I’m a massive Manchester United fan, and I’m a huge fan of yours as well. But I watch a lot of youth football in France, and you have to look at this player.’”

“He said his name was Kylian Mbappe. He plays for Monaco and I think he would be a good player for Manchester United.”

A few weeks later, Lionel sent Giggs the relevant information by email. Giggs then discussed the player with Albert Stuivenberg, who was also a Manchester United assistant coach at the time.

“So Albert Stuivenberg and I would go in the afternoons to watch games or watch players at the training ground. Anyway, I told him about this and he said: ‘Come on, let’s go and find him,’” Giggs said.

The pair watched several Monaco youth matches and were immediately impressed by Mbappe’s ability.

“We watched a few Monaco youth games and we saw him and said: ‘Oh my God, what is this?’ You know, you can see players and they might be special, but he looked exceptional.”

Giggs said the club’s scouting department was then informed, with a scout sent to watch Mbappe in a match against Paris Saint-Germain.

“We told the scouting team. They went to watch him. Someone in France went to see him, and he was already playing against Paris Saint-Germain. Monaco were playing Paris.”

“So they went to Paris to watch him. Anyway, I think a few weeks later I asked the man: ‘How did it go?’ He replied: ‘Yes, they weren’t sure about him, so we left it. That was the end of it.’”

Mbappe joined Paris Saint-Germain on loan in 2017 before completing a permanent move to the club the following year for about £170m. He later moved to Real Madrid.