Basel youngster Dimitri Oberlin has claimed that he rejected the chance to join Manchester United earlier in his career as he instead wanted to prioritise first-team football.
The 20-year-old, on loan at the Swiss club from domestic rivals Red Bull Salzburg, was tipped to join the Red Devils in 2014 when producing some standout displays at youth-team level.
Switzerland Under-21s forward Oberlin instead stuck around to gain experience in the senior ranks, rather than dropping down to play for United's Under-18s, but he admits that the move nearly went through.
"Yes, [United] had been watching me - the transfer almost happened," The Mirror quotes him as saying. "In the end I decided otherwise. My parents had allowed me to transfer, but I did not.
"I would have started at the U18s, the way into the first team would have been far. The competition would have been massive."
Oberlin has five goals in 10 games for Basel this season and was recently linked with both Real Madrid and Juventus.
Daniel Lewis
