'Man City released me – I got my stuff and drove round the corner to sign for Man Utd'

It is rare for a footballer to cross the divide between bitter rivals Manchester United and Manchester City.

There have been a number of stars who have played for both throughout their careers - Peter Schmeichel, Owen Hargreaves and Brian Kidd among them. But it is few and far between that stars have made a direct switch.

Denis Law and Carlos Tevez broke the hearts of United fans when they decided to don the City blue immediately without a grace period after playing at Old Trafford. But one young defender took it to the next level in 2012. Frederic Veseli had spent three years at the Etihad but, wanting to truly make it in the Premier League, he sought a move away from City.

As he entered the final year of his contract with City, Roberto Mancini wanted to agree fresh terms with the defender. Veseli made it clear that he would stay should a clear pathway be established, allowing him to leave on loan for vital minutes under his belt.

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Vesili spoke about the situation in an interview with The Athletic in 2022. He said (via the MEN): "We could never agree terms. Mancini would ask me all the time what was happening. I carried on playing. I played against United’s reserves who had Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager. United had a lot of first-teamers, we had reserves only and we drew 1-1. Fergie was there watching. I had a really good game."

While Veseli's performance piqued the interest of Sir Alex Ferguson, it wasn't until a chance meeting in a pub when the wheels began to turn. The defender bumped into United assistant Rene Meulensteen while going to pick his girlfriend up from her local - when the conversation between the pair soon turned to football and his situation at City.

Brian Marwood - who was City's football administrator at the time – made it clear that youngsters who were unhappy at the club were free to leave rather than disrupting the balance in the team. Veseli added: "Mancini was disappointed and was always asking me to renew.

"I didn’t know what to say to him. My contract was up and City released me and signed a paper saying I could leave on a free. The next day, 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 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."

United officially announced the signing of Veseli on transfer deadline day, with the youngster adding: "I am very happy and it is an honour to sign for Manchester United. I can’t wait to get started, to work hard and do everything I can to help the team. I am looking forward to showing everybody what I can do on the pitch.

"I am very thankful to Sir Alex Ferguson for bringing me to such a great club. Manchester United has a long history of younger players coming through and hopefully I can follow and do the same." Unfortunately for Veseli, the move did not prove fruitful.

He played just 23 times for the club at reserve and U21 level between 2012 and 2013, before making the move to Ipswich Town the following year. He spent two seasons with the Tractor Boys, but again, never made an appearance for the first team - instead going on loans to Bury and Port Vale.

He signed for the latter on a permanent deal in 2015, before going on to play for Lugano, Empoli, Salernitana, Benevento and Faith Karagumruk. He is currently without a club at the age of 31, and it seems as though the grass didn't turn out to be greener on the other side of Manchester for Veseli.

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