As per Spanish publication Noticias de Gipuzkoa, Brazilian striker Willian Jose has uncovered that he might have joined Manchester United last year.
The Red Devils needed a striker last January and took a gander at various expected targets. Ultimately after a long search, they agreed to sign former Watford striker Odion Ighalo, getting him on loan from Shanghai Shenhua.
The Nigerian was, the ideal player in that situation and he played well, scoring five goals and making one assist. While he did play a bit and had some influence in the last few games of the 2019/20 season, he still didn’t get enough game time and was just an optional player.
The loan move for the player was not the lone decision on the table. Willian has now revealed that Real Sociedad blocked his expected transfer to Old Trafford. He was targeted by Man United and an offer was placed as well, but Real Sociedad blocked him from making the dream transfer.
The 29-year-old proceeds to add that he had a feeling that he would be permitted to leave if a top side came in for him. He does feel that he was betrayed by the Sociedad board. As per the meeting, the Red Devils had made an offer of €23m for the player.
Willian Jose said: “Then came Barcelona and an offer from Manchester United. I saw that it was an opportunity that I could not miss out on because life is like that. You have to take advantage of opportunities, and I saw that it was the opportunity. I don’t understand why a few months ago they didn’t want to let me go for €23 million and now they have let me go. Football is sometimes difficult to understand.”
Willian ultimately moved to the Premier League with a loan move to Wolverhampton Wanderers recently. He struggled badly at the Molineux, scoring only one goal and making one assist in 18 games.
It is interesting that Sociedad chose to pass on United’s offer, particularly given the sum offered for the player. In any case, after analyzing Illian’s performances for Wolves, we were lucky that we didn’t sign him.
The player still has three years left on his current contract with Real Sociedad and has been linked with a move away. But the door to Manchester United has been shut now.
