Manchester United ignored 40 calls from former scout Jorge Alvial to sign Canadian prodigy Alphonso Davies, with Bayern Munich now benefitting from the teenager’s potential.
Back when the highly-rated left-back was a starry-eyed 14-year-old looking for a big break, his ability was noted when competing at the famous Dallas Cup youth tournament.
Alvial was among those in attendance and was charged with the tasked of identifying talent for United at the time.
He made it clear to those at Old Trafford that he thought Davies would be a shrewd addition, with every effort made to convince the Red Devils that they would be acquiring a future superstar.
His calls fell on deaf ears, though, just as Chelsea had previously shunned his recommendations to snap up Christian Pulisic, Neymar and an emerging Radamel Falcao.
German giants Bayern eventually bought into Davies’ promise, with 19 appearances taken in by the youngster this season, leaving United to reflect on what could have been.
Alvial told the Manchester Evening News: “It was my first player that I recommended to United when they hired me.
“The first time I saw him he was playing at the Dallas Cup tournament and he was a very good player.
“He was only 14 then, he went back to Vancouver and then when I was watching him on videos with my son, Javier, and said: 'Wait a second. We remember that player, that is Alphonso.' And that is when I called.”
Getty Images
Alvial added: “I had just got hired at that time and I called and said I wanted to go and see this player. So I went and right away, I am being honest, right away I recommended him.
“I feel very, very strongly about him. He is physical, intelligent. I felt strongly about him, if not stronger than I did when I recommended Christian Pulisic to Chelsea, and I took him for a trial at 14-years-old.
“When I saw what he had without proper development and coaching I knew that the kid would come to Manchester United or to any team, and he would just jump.
“I sat down with him when I went to see him and I had a conversation with him. That is what I do when I scout, I had a conversation with him and you can tell the kid he was smart, he wanted to learn, he was witty at the same time.
"He wasn't the typical kid who just wanted to be a superstar and wanted to make some money and buy a car. The things he was just saying. This kid has everything.
“But, the things that he showed at that age I went 'Wow. This is a superstar.'
“Right away for two years, I recommended him at Man United. Without a doubt in mind, and I wrote over 40 reports when I was at Man United. I would love to be back, it is a beautiful place. But, I had no doubts in my mind. No doubts.”
Falcao and Pulisic have ended up spending time at Chelsea, with the latter currently on the club’s books, but United missed the boat with Davies as Bayern set a new MLS transfer record when snapping him up from Vancouver Whitecaps in the summer of 2018.