Moroccan club Wydad Athletic, turned their attention to former Manchester United midfielder Sofyan Amrabat after being rejected by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Amrabat joined the Red Devils on loan in the summer of 2023 from Fiorentina.
He managed 30 games for United and did not score a goal during his time in England.
The Morocco international failed to show anything close to his best form in the Premier League as he played very little of the final months of the season. Despite this, he did win an FA Cup medal and put in a fine performance in the final against Manchester City.
United were reported to be interested in signing him on loan again last summer but they never did and he eventually joined Fenerbahce on a temporary deal instead.
Wydad Athletic Club president Hicham Aït-Menna told RMC’s After Afrique (via talkSPORT) that the former United man was almost signed by his side, who will face Manchester City in the Club World Cup later this week.
The Moroccans first of all tried to lure United legend Cristiano Ronaldo to the club with the carrot of competing in the inaugural World Cup tournament.
The president commented that, “it’s true that I contacted one of his agent friends three and a half or four months ago, saying, ‘Wouldn’t he want to play in the Club World Cup?’ He replied, ‘Listen, I don’t think so.’”
He doubted that his club could have afforded Ronaldo but he did state, “we would have liked to have him, but financially we wouldn’t have been able to pay the price he’s worth. Unless he had shown interest… I even came back two or three times.”
As a result of Ronaldo’s snub, they moved quickly to try and secure another player with a United history but their attempt once again, ultimately met with failure.
Speaking on the club’s attempted capture of Amrabat he claimed, “I thank Sofyan Amrabat because he really did everything he could to come and play with us.”
“But the decision was up to his club, who didn’t release him.”
Amrabat has since returned to Fiorentina with his future still very much up in the air.
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
