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Rene Meulensteen has revealed that he recommended two current Premier League stars to Manchester United. It is already well documented that Meulensteen, while managing Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala after leaving Old Trafford, offered Willian to United.
But speaking to the Official Scandinavian Supporters Club, the former United coach went into detail on the lengths he went to to try to secure what would have been a dream move for the Brazilian.
“When I left United I went to Anzhi in Russia with Guus Hiddink and then Guus left and I took over, and I had a really interesting squad with a lot of interesting individuals: Samuel Eto’o, Lassana Diarra, Christopher Samba was there… and Willian,” he said.
“Now that’s the player, because I actually rang David about [Moyes] because they were looking for players and I knew Willian was a mad Man United fan, because he asked me, he said, ‘Can you help me?’
“I said I could make a call, no problem at all. I said, ‘Listen, David I’ve got somebody here, Brazilian, versatile, can play any position, up front, in the midfield, advanced midfield, commercially a very good deal as well, never injured, great kid.
And then Ryan Giggs rang me after, just to follow it up, and I said, ‘Ryan if there’s anybody that you should know that knows what United need then it’s me, because I’ve worked with you guys for so many years. Believe me, he’ll be great.’
“Anyway it never materialised and then Tottenham came in, and then the relationship between the Anzhi owner Suleyman Kerimov and Roman Abramovich, they [Chelsea] hijacked it and Abramovich said, ‘Bring him to me’. And then at the last minute, because I think he was at Spurs to do the medicals, the same day he went off to Chelsea. So that was a little bit of a one-two between them two.
“And look at him, Willian has been outstanding for Chelsea and fantastic now for Fulham. I love to see him play, absolutely brilliant. He drives with the ball, he’s positive, he’s great. But it’s a shame, you know? You think to yourself, those players could have definitely made a difference.”
Willian has undoubtedly been a fine addition to the Premier League and – given the years that United spent weak on the right wing – he may well have proven a good fit for the Red Devils. But the other player recommended by Meulensteen might just sting a little more, with the Dutchman revealing that he also urged Man United to sign Son Heung-Min.
“It really annoys me a little bit,” he said. “Because when Son just came to Tottenham so many years ago, I felt, after seeing him one or two seasons, this is the player United need to buy. Well I mentioned it.”
One could argue that had the club listened to Meulensteen’s advice on both players, Man United’s situation on the wings may have looked far more healthy over the last decade. Players such as Jesse Lingard and Andreas Pereira were used on the wing for lengthy periods during the tenures of Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
But as things have turned out, Manchester United have developed a world-class player in Son’s position in the form of Marcus Rashford, while Antony is looking more and more like a quality player on the right as time goes on.
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