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Manchester United will face Sevilla in the quarter finals of the Europa League next month and they could find themselves lining up against one of their own.
Defender Alex Telles is on a season-long loan with the Andalusian side and United’s negotiators did not include any clause in the contract to prevent him from facing his home club.
It is an oversight that could come back to haunt the Red Devils, with Telles a regular contributor to goals and an excellent set-piece taker.
He is now fully recovered from the injury sustained in Qatar that brought his World Cup to an early end.
It is not the first time that United have made the same mistake on a loan deal. Diogo Dalot, on loan at AC Milan, faced the Red Devils in the same competition in 2021.
Ironically, Telles was in the United team on that occasion.
It beggars belief as to why United have not learned to ask for this exemption when negotiating loan deals with European competitors.
It would surely not be a deal breaker if they asked for the clause to be included. They could literally be knocked out of the tournament by their own player.
Telles is likely to return to Old Trafford at the end of the season despite doing quite well at Sevilla.
It was reported recently that the Spanish club feel United’s demands to make the deal permanent are excessive.
There is no option to buy clause in the loan deal, so this suggests that enquiries have been made, with Telles himself noncommittal on the idea of a permanent switch.
The first leg of the quarter final is on April 13th at Old Trafford, with the return leg a week later in Seville.
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