The Jerome Boateng to Manchester United claims continue to be curious, after it was reported in the summer he’d turned the club down.
Despite leaks from the Premier League side that they didn’t move for a defender, thinking the options available weren’t enough of an improvement on what’s already at Old Trafford, in Germany they insist otherwise.
At the time of the summer reports, the claims were coming from the German media closest to Bayern Munich and it looked an attempt to either show Boateng was committed to the Bundesliga club, or an effort to smoke out more money from PSG.
Claims regarding the French club continued until the end of the Ligue 1 transfer window, but Boateng stayed in Germany.
Now, speaking to Bild, the same group who pushed the earlier story, Boateng is quoted as saying: “I called Jose Mourinho and told him that his interest was an honour for me and I want to thank him for making an effort to get me to Manchester United. It was a good conversation in which I explained the reasons why I would not come. It is very difficult to leave FC Bayern. With a move everything has to be right in order to beat this club.”
It’s even stated Boateng took the initiative and picked up his telephone to directly call Mourinho and kill the deal.
The earlier claims had stated a Manchester United offer had arrived for Boateng, which in the real world of transfers wouldn’t make a lot of sense unless they knew they had the player’s will on their side… especially when dealing with Bayern Munich.
Perhaps the precise truth will never be known, with the various parties pushing slants on the story suitable to them.
