An international star has insisted he only had eyes for Inter Milan, despite claims he wanted Manchester United.
The man reportedly identified as the Premier League giants’ top defensive target late on last August suggests he had no interest in joining Erik ten Hag‘s side.
At least, that is what the World Cup winner himself says.
Benjamin Pavard, speaking after becoming a Serie A champion with Inter Milan and enhancing an already remarkable collection of silverware, insists that he only had eyes for a Nerazzuri side who had spent much of the previous few windows chasing his signature, finally getting a deal done the tune to the tune of £26 million ten months ago.
Manchester United wanted Benjamin Pavard
“I had won everything. At 27, the time had come to change. I was looking for a new adventure, after seven seasons in Germany,” Pavard explains to La Repubblica. “I wanted to get to know Italy and experience the passion of Serie A.
“I had forced myself to leave Munich. I only wanted Inter. (The Nerazzurri) had been following me for a long time, I already felt like an Inter fan.”
A big factor in Pavard’s decision to leave Bavaria – beyond getting a little tired of those annual trips to Freiburg and Frankfurt – was that Inter were offering him the chance to play in his favoured centre-half role again after years running the line as a full-backfor Bayern and France.
“Then, there’s the tactics,” the former Stuttgart star adds. “In Munich, I played at full-back. I’m central here, my favourite role.”
Now, Pavard’s comments are in contrast to what Fabrizio Romano reported after the deadline passed, and after the Frenchman became an Inter player.
From Bundesliga champion to Serie A winner
“Pavard wanted to come to Manchester United. The deal was almost done on the player’s side, and was advanced on the club side,” Romano told The United Stand, explaining that Harry Maguire‘s aborted switch to West Ham also played a role in the deal not happening.
“Manchester United were prepared to pay what Inter paid for Pavard, something in the region of 30 to 32 million euros. So, to put the money from Harry Maguire on Benjamin Pavard, they could change their defence. But the deal did not happen because of the Maguire situation.”
Now, either Romano is a little ill-informed – which to be fair doesn’t occur too often – or Pavard is not being entirely truthful about those Man United.
Sky Sports claims in mid-August that Pavard was willing to ‘fight as hard has possible’ to land a move to United.
Either way, the Red Devils certainly could have done with a player of his experience and versatility during a season in which they have conceded their most goals (81) since 1977.
Pavard now has 16 trophies in his senior career, including the World Cup, the Champions League, and five successive league titles in Germany and Italy. Former United trio Alexis Sanchez, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Matteo Darmian were also part of Simone Inzaghi’s 2024 Scudetto-winningroster.