My contract with Manchester City was terminated, and I drove around the corner to sign with Manchester United

Manchester City had a lot of great stars and were going to win the championship, but Manchester United had previously won the championship before to that. The energy emanating from the aura was distinct. Without delay, I found myself falling in love with it.

Very few football players would have the courage to cross the boundary that separates Manchester United and Manchester City.

Denis Law and Carlos Tevez are the most notable individuals who have directly switched from playing for the red team to playing for the sky blue team. However, for one young defender in 2012, that was exactly the courageous decision he made. There have been many people who have played football for both teams, but an extremely small number of people have ever made the direct switch between the two clubs.

That day was the deadline. As the summer transfer window was coming to a close, Frederic Veseli made the decision that it was time for a change. He had no obvious path to the first team on the blue side of Manchester, so he decided it was time for him to make a substitution.

Although the promising defender had spent three and a half years at City, where he had achieved a great deal of success, he desired to move to a club where he would have a better chance of succeeding. Neither did he have to look very far.

“These days, Manchester City are chasing titles and major trophies,” mentioned Adam Bouskouchi, who was his former agent. The fact that they evidently believe that experience is the greatest route for them to achieve where they want to go makes it tough for them to have faith in younger people. However, that attitude did not help Freddie, who just had the impression that he was not making any progress.

“Freddie had conversations with a number of clubs at home and abroad. But he has the ambition to be one of the best players in England, and the conversation that Sir Alex had with him left such an impression on him.

Photo of Frederic Veseli

“He is a difficult man to say no to and his track record was enough for Freddie to feel he was making the right choice to join United.”

The highly regarded defender had been the subject of United’s previous attempt to acquire his services; nonetheless, the Blues were able to secure his signing better than many other elite teams in Europe. Before Veseli’s participation with Switzerland at the Under-17 World Cup in 2009, City had already reached a contract agreement with him, demonstrating their deep admiration for the talented young player. As it turned out, it was a brilliant move.

In the youth competition, the youngster would bring pride to his country of birth and lead his country to victory. At the age of sixteen, he guided his team to victory in the World Cup, but any team that was interested in signing him had already passed up the opportunity to do so.

“Freddie was my captain because he was a great personality, very professional mentally, with great technical qualities, and he was a leader,” said Dany Ryser, the manager of the Swiss U17s, in an interview with The Manchester Evening News.

We may not have had all of the top players in the tournament, but we had the best team for the Under-17s World Cup, and Frederic exemplified that mentality. “Winning the Under-17s World Cup was a great achievement because we had the best team.”

It was more about the squad than it was about him, which is why he was acknowledged as the head of that side. In spite of the fact that he was the star, he had no attitude at all. When it came to him, everything revolved on how well the squad did.

The fact that he was such a capable captain contributed to the team’s win of the championship.

On their road to victory, Switzerland triumphed in all seven of their matches, including victories over Italy, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Japan, Colombia, and Nigeria in the championship match, which was played in front of 60,000 spectators. Immediately following their victorious victory, Veseli finished his relocation to Manchester. He first relocated to Manchester with his father, but after his son had established himself in Manchester, he relocated back to Switzerland.

It just so happened that the local family he moved in with was a huge supporter of the team, and City made arrangements for him to move in with them. Additionally, they took care of Alex Nimely, a former striker, and took the two of them to see the Blues matches whenever it was feasible.

Veseli established himself effectively on the football side of things, and he was quickly promoted to the reserve side. In addition, he frequently practiced with the first squad in order to expedite his growth. This was done despite the fact that he had some reservations about his new surroundings. In spite of the fact that he was making good progress, the youngster believed that he ought to be receiving more opportunities given the work that he was doing. If it weren’t for an unfortunate injury, he would have managed to get one as well.

“[Roberto] Mancini told me I would make my first-team debut in the final league game of the season and called my family,” Veseli told The Athletic newspaper. “However, on Tuesday I suffered a tear in my hamstring. I was in utter disbelief.

It was because of this setback that Veseli was unable to participate in the first team, and it was an opportunity that he would never have again. Despite the fact that City would at least provide him with a spot on their preseason tour to the United States, it appeared that paperwork would be the obstacle for this particular trip.

Due to the fact that my passport was not a biometric one, I was almost unable to travel to the United States for the preseason with City. Despite the fact that the reserve manager informed me that I would be required to remain with them, Mancini assured me that they would wait for me and not take another player.

After I went to the passport office and informed them everything that had happened, they were able to get me a new passport in just two days. Next, I went to the United States Embassy, which was a difficult experience. There is a lot of difficulty ”

It was a little price to pay for Veseli to lose out on the chartered trip and wind up flying economy to Chicago. If this was going to be the moment that would launch his career as a professional football player, then it was a moment that he would never forget.

Not only was it a fruitful summer for him, but it was also a fruitful summer for City. They did not address their need for defensive reinforcements by promoting younger players; rather, they handled it by signing Stefan Savic. The most notable signings were Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri, and Gael Clichy.

As he entered his final year at the club, Mancini made it obvious that he wanted to agree to new terms with the talented defender. Veseli, on the other hand, made it apparent that he was prepared to stick around if a career route could be constructed, which would allow him to move on loan and obtain playing time elsewhere.

“We were never able to reach a consensus on the terms. All the time, Mancini would inquire about what was going on in the world. I continued to play the game. Although Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was the manager of United’s reserves, I was able to compete against them.

United had a large number of first-team players, but we just had reserves, and we ended up drawing 1-1. There was Fergie present, observing. A truly good game was played by me.

Despite the fact that Veseli’s performance in front of the great United boss had undoubtedly piqued the manager’s interest in signing him, it wasn’t until a fortuitous encounter in a pub that the wheels began to turn. During the course of his journey to pick up his fiancée from her local establishment, the defender happened to run across Rene Meulensteen, an assistant coach at Manchester United. The talk rapidly shifted to football, specifically focusing on his current predicament at City.

A revitalized youth program was the first step in the Blues’ plan to develop a new identity in English football, which they were eager to do. It was made quite plain by Brian Marwood, who was the football administrator at the time, that any young person who was dissatisfied with the club was free to leave rather than potentially disrupting the equilibrium.

Meulensteen’s curiosity was undoubtedly peaked when he discovered that Veseli was free to depart, despite the fact that Mancini was anxious to keep him on board.

Although Mancini was dissatisfied, he continued to request that I renew my contract. I was at a loss for words when I spoke to him. Due to the fact that my contract had expired, City freed me and signed a document stating that I was free to go at any time.

“I proceeded to drive to City’s training field at Carrington the next day in order to retrieve my belongings. I did not divulge to anyone the things that I intended to undertake after that. I informed the gaffer that I was leaving the club, and he inquired about my destination following my departure. In response, I said, “United.” It was hard for him to believe, but he was required to undergo training. “He wished me the best of luck…”

Up until that moment, the only transfer deal that United had been involved in was the unexpected re-signing of Paul Scholes, which was marked by an appearance at the Etihad Stadium in the Manchester derby just a few hours after he signed a contract. Two weeks later, they would once again raid the opposite side of the city, and on the day just before the deadline, they would make the official announcement that they had signed Veseli on a free transfer.

“I am very happy and it is an honor to sign for Manchester United,” Veseli stated at the time. “I signed with Manchester United.” I can’t wait to get started: I’m going to put in a lot of effort and do everything in my power to assist the squad. It is quite exciting for me to demonstrate to everyone what I am capable of doing on the field.

Because Sir Alex Ferguson was the one who introduced me to such a wonderful club, I am extremely grateful to him. Younger players have a long history of coming through the ranks at Manchester United, and I hope that I will be able to follow in their footsteps and do the same.

That obvious road for youth talent was what had pushed Veseli to move clubs in the city. The defender believed that City were unduly focused on attempting to win major trophies and establish their new stature rather than fostering any young players. This was the reason why Veseli had decided to switch clubs.

The final victory of Mancini in the title race at the end of the season would vindicate their position, despite the fact that United were ready to make their noisy neighbors pay for their behaviour.

There was one of the most talented players in the world of football, who, despite having remained unmoved in recent years, nevertheless represented enormous potential. Any triumph would be a complete and utter humiliation for them, since it would come at the expense of their neighbors in the area. Despite the fact that the conversation that took place in a Wilmslow pub was the beginning of Veseli’s journey to United, Ferguson never acknowledged the true nature of the transaction.

During his interview with MUTV, Ferguson stated that “it actually came about by chance, that occurrence.” “A member of our scouting department came to us and informed us that City had released this young guy from Switzerland, and that they had seen him play a couple of years ago.

“There was absolutely nothing that could be lost. We decided to wait until the end of the season to evaluate his performance and then make a decision. I have high hopes for his success.

When Veseli signed with United, the club informed him that he was not at the required fitness level to even exercise at the intensity that they would need from him. This meant that United assigned Veseli additional training responsibilities.

However, United were already champions, despite the fact that City had a lot of notable names and would eventually become champions. The energy emanating from the aura was distinct. Without delay, I found myself falling in love with it.

Veseli continued to practice with the United first team on a regular basis; however, he was not given as many opportunities to play at the reserve level as he had been receiving with City. Over the course of the year that had passed since Solskjaer’s masterclass in front of Ferguson, Warren Joyce had taken over as manager of Molde and Solskjaer had left to coach Molde.

It was a tremendously strong group that included future first-team stars Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard, as well as Michael Keane, Sean McGinty, Reece Brown, Scott Wootton, and Tom Thorpe. These players provided fierce competition at center back, and it is probably not surprising that things did not go as planned.

Veseli was once again selected for a pre-season tour squad, this time representing the United team that traveled to South Africa and China. This was despite the fact that he only played a minimal amount of games. On the other hand, much like at City, it never ever led to opportunities with the first team.

A varied role was played by the young player when he returned to reserve action. He played right back for the majority of the first half of the season, but at the turn of the year, he switched to playing defensive midfielder instead. It was in this midfield position that he witnessed his most successful run with the squad, during which he participated in every single match for the majority of the weeks. However, his season was cut short in April due to yet another terrible injury.

I suffered a hamstring injury while playing against the Spurs reserves. Because I had not been selected for the first team, Fergie had previously informed me that I might leave. He informed me that I could remain for an additional year if I desired to do so, that he would be pleased to assist me in finding another club, and that I may leave without any charges.

Leicester, Burnley, Barnsley, and Ipswich were among the Championship clubs that expressed interest in signing him. Udinese, an Italian club, was also interested in signing him. There was a lot of interest from the Championship.

The top scout for Ipswich told his close friend Wayne Rooney about the young player for United, and after receiving some positive comments, an agreement was immediately reached involving the two parties. Despite having a rough five-year relationship with Manchester United, Mick McCarthy’s team had emerged victorious in the competition to get a center back who is still highly respected.

In spite of the fact that things did not go as planned at Portman Road, Veseli was successful during his loan stints at Bury and Port Vale. In January 2015, he eventually signed a permanent contract with Port Vale, a deal that he brought about himself after firing an inexperienced agent.

He was once again on the move by the time the season came to a close. After falling out of love with the sport, he returned to Switzerland to pursue a degree in law at a university. Shortly after that, he was presented with the opportunity to try out for the Swiss club Lugano in an effort to revitalize his career.

Things went well, and they were going to get even better in the near future. After accepting a call-up to the Albanian national team when he was playing for Lugano, Veseli, who was born in Switzerland to Albanian parents who were originally from Kosovo, was eventually selected for the Albanian team’s Euro 2016 squad.

“It is the most incredible thing ever. In Marseille, I was brought in to play against France. Wow! There were fifty thousand Albanians present, and it was our very first participation in the Euros. When I was very proud. It was not a problem for me to sing the national song. Every game I went to, I couldn’t help but feel goosebumps since my parents were there. We returned to Albania, where we were received like kings when we arrived. As a result of the diplomatic passport that was provided to us, I am no longer required to wait in line at airports.

“A year earlier I couldn’t get a team.”

At the same time, however, the good times would not continue for very long. They refused to sell him and insisted that they had the right to trigger a contract extension that would result in his earning far less money than he might get elsewhere. Veseli became embroiled in a contract dispute with Lugano, which led to the latter refusing to sell him.

Lugano once again took legal action, this time suing the defender, after he sought the counsel of a lawyer and was finally released from his contract. He went on to join with Empoli, a team that competes in Serie A, before again taking legal action. For a period of two months, Veseli was unable to participate in any games before his name was finally cleared.

Following his departure, he went on loan to Le Mans and then returned to Italy to play for Salernitana, where he was instrumental in the club’s elevation to the Serie A position. Despite the fact that Veseli only made nine appearances during the 2021/22 season owing to injuries and illnesses, it was yet another amazing experience that ended in a situation that was bittersweet.

The fact that he is looking forward to it once more is indeed a testament to his character. In the quarterfinal of the Turkish Cup, which took place on Thursday, he was a member of the team that defeated the giants Galatasaray. He had previously played for Benevento in Serie B, and then he traveled to Turkey with Fatih Karagrouk. It is my hope that this one will have the happy ending that he deserves.