I was an academy star at Man City but they released me – I immediately drove round the corner and signed for Man Utd

ALBANIA international Frederic Veseli drove straight to Manchester United and signed for the club after being released by rivals Manchester City.

The defender spent three-and-a-half seasons in the reserves at the Etihad after joining from Lausanne in 2008, but never got his chance in the first team.

Academy prospect Frederic Veseli was released by Manchester CityGetty

He ended up signing for Man Utd but never featured for the first teamGetty

And while manager Roberto Mancini tried to convince him to sign a new contract, Veseli ended up being released at the end of Man City‘s 2011/12 Premier League title-winning season.

Unbeknown to the newly-crowned English champions, their young talent had been weighing up a move to rivals Man Utd before he left the club.

It was an idea that came out of a chance meeting with Man Utd assistant Rene Meulensteen at a pub.

And, after his time with Man City came to an end, he wasted no time in penning a deal with the Red Devils.

Speaking to The Athletic, he said: “The next day [after being released by Man City], I drove to City’s training ground at Carrington to collect my stuff. I didn’t tell anybody what I was going to do next.

“I told the gaffer [Mancini] that I was leaving the club and he asked me where I was going. I told him: ‘United’.

“He couldn’t believe it, but he had to take training. He wished me good luck.

“The reserve manager told me I had to train, but I told him I was leaving. I didn’t say where.

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“Then I drove around the corner and signed for Manchester United after doing a medical.”

Veseli, who joined a Man Utd academy that included Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Michael Keane, did not break into Sir Alex Ferguson’s first team either.

Yet despite that, he insists his one year at Old Trafford was more enjoyable than his time at Man City.

He added: “City had loads of big names and would become champions, but United were already champions.

“The energy was different, the aura. I fell in love with it straight away.”

Veseli left Man Utd in 2013 and ended up signing for Championship side Ipswich where he played one game.

Loan spells at Bury and Port Vale followed, before he permanently left Portman Road and returned to Switzerland with Lugano.

He then joined Serie A side Empoli in 2016 where he made 100 appearances – a four-year spell that also included a loan to Ligue 2 side Le Mans.

Salernitana signed Veseli in 2020 and he spent two seasons with the Italian side, helping them secure promotion to the top flight.

Veseli, who has 44 caps for Albania, had another period in Serie B with Benavento, before Turkish Super Lig outfit Fatih Karagumruk signed him last summer.

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