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Bournemouth keeper Callan McKenna has revealed why he chose not to sign for Manchester United in January despite being on the cusp of a move.
The 17-year-old broke into the Queen’s Park first team and impressed scouts so much that he attracted interest from a host of English clubs.
The youngster eventually opted to sign for Bournemouth but it came as a shock as many had assumed he had already agreed to join the Red Devils.
It was reported at the start of the January window by sources in Scotland that McKenna was on the verge of joining Erik ten Hag’s side but evidently, a deal never materialised.
However, in a recent interview, the Scottish U-19 goalkeeper has outlined exactly what happened and interestingly expressed how close he really was to joining United.
Commenting in the Cherries’ official matchday programme (via the Daily Echo), McKenna delved into why he decided to move to the south coast over Manchester.
“A 15-minute Zoom call with (assistant technical director) Simon Francis and (head of goalkeeping) Neil Moss.”
The starlet then explained how close his deal to United was to being completed.
“I travelled to Manchester and met the people from Manchester United the day before deadline day. That night, I had the Zoom call and was invested in coming here.”
“The following morning, the guys from United came to take me to the training ground and I told them it wasn’t what I wanted.”
“They tried their best to persuade me, but I wanted to come here.”
He also revealed that he believed that he had a clearer pathway to the first team playing for the side from the Vitality Stadium than at Old Trafford.
“I thought I would be closer to the first team and you only need to look at some of the goalkeepers Bournemouth have brought through, like Mark Travers and Aaron Ramsdale.”
United have clearly been trying to bring in young talents from the UK, Europe and South America as of late, as the new owners are trying to tap into such markets in a way the Glazers have not.
On the one hand, youngsters will look at the opportunities the likes of Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho have had and news of a 250th academy graduate making an appearance for the first team only enhances the club’s reputation as a prime spot to develop.
However, as McKenna alluded to, the bigger the club, the more big names are likely to be in your way to reach the first team, so many players would choose an objectively smaller club to enhance their own prospects of eventually reaching first team football.
Perhaps the young Scotsman will someday arrive to the level where the Red Devils come calling for his services once more.
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