England Euro 2024 starter admits Man Utd move was 'close' after manager begged him to stay in club car park

An England Euro 2024 starter has admitted he was once close to a Manchester United move.

The Three Lions are a day away from kicking off their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia, a tournament they will enter as favourites.

However, Gareth Southgate has been dealt a couple of injury concerns ahead of the Euro opener, with Luke Shaw not yet fit enough to feature and John Stones having been recovering from an illness.

With Shaw injured for the opener, Kieran Trippier is set to start as a make-shift left-back, as he did in England’s final pre-tournament friendly against Iceland.

And ahead of the game, the Newcastle defender revealed he was once on the brink of joining United.

Speaking to the Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet, on the reason he joined the Magpies from Atletico Madrid in January 2022, Trippier said: “When I was in Madrid, the season before I left it was a tough year for me for numerous reasons.

“I just wanted to come back to England. My family was finding it difficult at the time. I could have stayed at Atletico Madrid. I could have signed a new 3-year contract. [Diego] Simeone in the car park on the day I was leaving didn’t want me to go but it was the right thing at the right time for my family.

“As players you have to be realistic of where you can go. I knew I wasn’t going to sign for Manchester City or Liverpool. I knew I was restricted to certain clubs. [Manchester] United did come [in for me] straight after the Euros and that was very close. I grew up with my family being reds, but it didn’t happen. Everything happens for a reason."

Trippier is set to start for England against Serbia (Getty)

On the failed United deal, Trippier added: “It just fell away. Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] was the manager at the time and everything seemed perfect. I was chuffed. It was Manchester United, the biggest club in the world.

“It didn’t happen and I was back in Madrid. Six months later I was at Newcastle. Everyone raised their eyebrows. Obviously, people were saying, ‘He is going for the money, and he is going for this and that’.

“I have made it clear many times that I took less money going to Newcastle than I did [staying] at Madrid. I didn’t have a relegation clause, even at the position we were in, I trusted the manager and that is a key factor to why I came.”

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