A hefty book could be written about all the "what could have been" stories in football. Every once in a while, the public finds out about a certain transfer or signing that nearly happened but eventually fell through for one reason or another.And the latest one is quite intriguing, as it turns out that Kylian Mbappe could have become a Manchester United player!More midfielders? United ask about NmechaThe story was recently revealed by Red Devils legend Ryan Giggs, who was involved in the entire operation to bring the Frenchman to Old Trafford. He told it to another club icon and his former teammate, Rio Ferdinand, on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast."So, I'm in the south of France. I was coaching United, so it'd be 2015." "I've been for a walk in the local village and I'm walking back to the hotel. I'm walking on the beach back to the hotel. And you can feel, I can feel someone, you know, when you feel someone like following you."Epitome of humility – Mbappe: "Who do I vote for to win Ballon d'Or? For myself!""And I'm like, I get to the hotel and then all of a sudden I can feel someone coming up to me. Anyway, this guy is called Lionel, French guy." "So he comes up to me and says 'hi, I'm Lionel. I just wanted to just say hello. I'm a big United fan and big fan of yours. But I watch a lot of youth football in France, and you have to look at this player. He's called Kylian Mbappe. He's at Monaco and I think he's a player for Man United,'" Giggs said, as quoted by ESPN.The soon-to-be 17 year old Kylian Mbappe in action for Monaco against Bordeaux in the French League Cup (©AFP)From that point, the situation began to develop in a positive direction, as the Welshman and his associate watched a couple of Mbappe's games and were left stunned by what they saw."A few weeks later, he emailed me all the details. So me and Albert [Stuivenberg] again, who's the coach with Arsenal, he was another assistant at United at the time. We used to in the afternoons just go and watch games or go and watch players at the training ground." "So anyway, I've told him about this thing. He says 'come on, let's get him up.' And we got a few youth games with Monaco and we seen him and just like, 'wow, what is this?' You know, you can see players and they can be special, but he did look exceptional, obviously."The story of when Ryan Giggs recommended Mbappe to Man United in 2015 pic.twitter.com/Ts9uDr5cGK— Rio Ferdinand Presents (@RioMeets) September 10, 2026 However, unfortunately for Man United – from this point of view, it's almost tragic – not everyone at the club considered Mbappe good enough for a move to Old Trafford."So anyway, we told the scouting team. They went to watch him. Someone in France went to watch him and he was actually playing PSG. Monaco were playing PSG. So they went to Paris to watch him.""Anyway, I think a few weeks later, I said to this guy 'how did it go?' and he went 'yeah, they weren't too sure about him, so we just left it, and that was it,'" Giggs concluded.Legendary Red Devil to Bruno: "Keep your mouth shut"The whole story is in the past now, and nothing can be done about it, but let's just take a moment to imagine how different United's history could have been.If they had actually signed Mbappe in 2015 – at the age of 16 – he would have flourished at Old Trafford instead of Parc des Princes, while the Red Devils would hardly have endured a 13-year wait for another Premier League title.But now, it's all gone with the wind… Just another "what would have been" story among countless similar ones.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUEROUND 1TuesdayAEK – LASK 1-0 (1-0)/Marin 21/Club Brugge – Aston Villa 2-3 (1-3)/Vetlesen 19, Tresoldi 61 pen – McGinn 11, Buendia 22, Jackson 43/Porto – Manchester City 0-2 (0-0)/Haaland 47, 90+1/Dortmund – Villarreal 3-2 (0-0)/Veiga 53 og, Guirassy 80, 85 pen – Mourino 66, Guirassy 90+3 og/Lille – Betis 2-3 (2-1)/Ueda 12, Ribeiro 36 – Bartra 33,49, Parrott 53/Real Madrid – Inter 2-1 (2-0)/Mbappe 14, Valverde 23 – Augusto 77/WednesdayBarcelona – Feyenoord 5-1 (2-0)/Raphinha 3, 57, Aeyemi 22, Yamal 77, Jesus 85 – Steijn 82/Stuttgart – Viking 3-1 (3-1)/Demirovic 20, 26, 32 – Tripic 22/Liverpool – Atl.Madrid 2-1 (1-1)/Szoboszlai 40, Mac Allister 50 – Llorente 17/Napoli – Arsenal 0-1 (0-0)/Odegaard 75/PSG – Slovan B. 6-1 (3-0)/Dembele 17, 23, Torres 31, 47, 57, Ruiz 87 – Camara 58/Sporting – Galatasaray 3-1 (1-1)/Catamo 27, Suarez 57(p), Zalazar 63 – Inacio 5(og)/Thursday19.45: (3.15) Fenerbahce (3.45) Roma (2.25)19.45: (1.43) PSV (4.60) Shakhtar (7.25)22.00: (1.10) Bayern (10.0) Bodo (16.0)22.00: (1.95) Como (3.50) RB Leipzig (3.90)22.00: (1.10) Man.Utd. (11.0) Sabah (18.0)22.00: (2.60) Slavia Praha (3.35) Lens (2.70)***odds are subject to change***