Manchester United corner flag at Old Trafford (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Thomas Meunier has revealed that he could have signed for Manchester United during his time at Borussia Dortmund.
At the time, the Belgian defender was linked with a move to the Premier League and the German club’s manager at the time was prepared to let him leave. He was even willing to let his agent consider moving players.
Meunier did not reveal who was his manager, but during his time at the German club he played under Lucien Favre, Edin Terzic and Marco Rose. So it has to be one of them.
Meunier refuses move to Man United
“A little anecdote, when I was at Dortmund. I could have signed for Manchester United. I didn’t have an agent. And in fact, my coach at the time specifically instructed my agent to sign me for Manchester United. I refused and didn’t sign. Otherwise, I would have known… but that’s fine,” he told RTBF.
“That’s also the negative side of football. There’s a lot of money at stake, and the coaches also work extra hard to place players and get paid, working with agents. I have 45 examples like that. I won’t name names because I can’t prove them all now. But in my opinion, things like this still happen too often.”
Thomas Meunier might have been a useful option
The 34-year-old is currently plying his trade in France with LOSC Lille.
He has proven to be a reliable defender for club and country. There is no doubt that Meunier was a useful acquisition for Manchester United. The defender revealed that the only reason the transfer fell through was because he was not keen on the manager using his agent to try to force him out of the club.
At the time, the Belgian defender did not have his own agent, so any potential transfer collapsed.