Manchester City play Manchester United in a few weeks, and it’ll surely be an exciting one despite both teams’ struggles this season.
Earlier in the season, in the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester United beat Manchester City 2-1 in something of a shock result at the time. Fast-forward to now and it’s not all that surprising.
Pep Guardiola’s side have been in poor form of late. City have lost three of their last five in all competitions, losing 1-0 at Nottingham Forest in their last Premier League fixture which has since seen City fall down into 5th place of the table.
Next up is home game against Brighton before a much-needed international break. Then it’s the FA Cup quarter-final clash with Bournemouth, a home game against Leicester City, then a trip across the city to Old Trafford. It could be one of City’s final trips to Old Trafford as Man United plan to build a new stadium.
All eyes will be on that one, and in a recent interview, a former Manchester United youngster has revealed he had the chance to join a number of local teams as a kid, one being Manchester City.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Brandon Williams reveals he chose Manchester United over Manchester City
Williams, now 24, has been a free agent all season following his release from United at the end of the last campaign. But the full-back has now shared an interview with More Than A Match on YouTube, where he revealed how he was originally scouted to play for Manchester United.
MORE MAN CITY STORIES
And rather surprisingly, he revealed how he had options to join a number of local clubs, including Manchester City, but that joining United was an easy choice. He explained: “We used to play a tournament in Blackpool every year with my team, Bury Amateurs by the way. Then we went to Blackpool the first year when I was seven.
“We had eight scouts, Blackburn, Everton, Liverpool, United, City, Bolton, all the teams in the local area. My dad was a big United fan and he started taking me to games there, so we chose United, started going to The Cliff, we lived like 10 minutes away, so it was an easy choice.”
What Phil Jones recently said about almost joining Manchester City
As it goes, Williams isn’t the only player to have recently revealed that he could’ve, and almost did sign for Man City, with Phil Jones recently revealing just that.
Speaking on Sam Allardyce’s No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Jones said he spoke to Manchester City before joining United from Blackburn Rovers back in 2011. He said: “I had spoke to Man City, but I think they were going through a time where they didn’t really know about the manager, they were going to change the manager. That was when [Roberto] Mancini was coming in.
“(Spoke to) Chelsea as well, they had problems with the manager. I didn’t want to come in not knowing who actually wanted me at the club. I had Harry Redknapp on the phone, he was brilliant, for Tottenham.”
As for Williams, who former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson spoke fondly of back in 2020, if he couldn’t make it happen at United then it’s unlikely that he ever would have at the Etihad.
Man City are back in action against European rivals Brighton in a 3pm kick off on Saturday.