Ryan Giggs: I told Manchester United to sign Kylian Mbappe, Gabriel Jesus

Posted Saturday, December 23, 2017 by ESPN

Ryan Giggs: I told Manchester United to sign Kylian Mbappe, Gabriel Jesus
Kylian Mbappe joined Paris Saint-Germain from Monaco in the summer after being linked to a host of the world's top clubs.

Ryan Giggs has revealed how he tried to get Manchester United to sign Kylian Mbappe and Gabriel Jesus.

Former United player Giggs spent two seasons as Louis van Gaal's assistant at Old Trafford, and during that time he says he encouraged the club to sign Jesus and Mbappe.

Instead, Gabriel swapped Palmeiras for Manchester City, while Mbappe became one of the most sought-after players in the world last summer before joining Paris Saint-Germain from Monaco.

Giggs told The Times: "I watched Gabriel Jesus play three years ago. I watched Mbappe for a year. I was watching them with the scout and it was a no-brainer.

"It was just like, 'Get them.' It would have been £5 million or something -- get them, loan them back -- and that's where the recruitment could have been better."

United have spent more than £600m on 22 players since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

But Jose Mourinho's team against West Brom on Sunday contained seven players who were at the club five years ago, prompting Gary Neville to suggest the recruitment policy has failed.

Giggs also said he disagreed with Van Gaal's decision to sell Danny Welbeck, Jonny Evans and Rafael.

Evans joined West Brom in 2015, but has been linked with a £30m January move to City, while Welbeck left for Arsenal in 2014 and Rafael signed for Lyon a year later.

Giggs added: "It was hard because Louis had his own ideas and you had to respect that, but, yes, we had a few arguments about a couple of them. He understood because I had played with those lads, but they just weren't for him.

"Some of them, like Welbeck, wanted to play more regularly, and Jonny had a few injuries at the time, so you could understand it, but -- and it's not saying it in hindsight -- recruitment hasn't been great either."