An Email Recommended Mbappe to Manchester United, but Scouts Said They Were 'Not Sure'

Manchester United once had the chance to sign Mbappe but eventually gave up on the opportunity. Giggs personally recounted the story.

According to The Independent, Giggs revealed while appearing on Ferdinand's podcast that in 2015 he received a recommendation from a French fan, who suggested that Manchester United pay attention to Mbappe, who was then playing for Monaco. The fan was named Lionel, described himself as a Manchester United supporter, and had watched many France youth team matches.

A chance encounter on the beach

Giggs recalled that he was in southern France at the time, having already ended his playing career and joined Louis van Gaal's Manchester United coaching staff. While walking back to his hotel along the beach, he felt that someone was following him.

"I walked to the hotel and suddenly felt someone coming towards me. This person was called Lionel, he was French. He came up and said, 'Hello, I am Lionel, I just wanted to say hello. I am a Manchester United fan and also a fan of yours. But I have watched a lot of French youth matches. You have to look at this player, his name is Mbappe, he is at Monaco, and I think he is a Manchester United player.'"

A few weeks later, the fan sent detailed information to Giggs' email. Giggs told Albert Stuivenberg, who was also a Manchester United assistant coach at the time. The two often watched matches or went to the training ground to observe players in the afternoons. Stuivenberg said, "Let's bring him in," and they found several Monaco youth team match videos to watch.

Giggs' exact words were: "We watched him and it was like, 'Wow, what is this?' You can see some players are special, but he really looked outstanding."

The scout went to Paris, and then nothing happened

After that, Giggs informed Manchester United's scouting team. A scout went to France to assess Mbappe, and the match was Monaco's away game against Paris Saint-Germain. The scout made a special trip to Paris.

A few weeks later, Giggs asked the fan, "How is it going?" The reply was: "They were not too sure about him, so we gave up, that's it."

That was the full extent of Manchester United's connection with Mbappe. A chance meeting on a beach, an email, several youth match videos, a trip to Paris, and then it ended.

The later Mbappe

The original article stated that Mbappe quickly broke into Monaco's first team, helped the club win the 2017 Ligue 1 title, then joined Paris Saint-Germain for what was the second-highest transfer fee in history at the time, and won the World Cup with France. In 2024, he left Paris Saint-Germain to join Real Madrid.

When Giggs told this story, he did not comment on the Manchester United scouts' judgment, but simply described the process. Between "Wow, what is this" and "they were not too sure about him" was a scouting trip and a few weeks of time.