'I AGREED TO JOIN PLYMOUTH – THEN I WENT TO THE TRAINING GROUND AND SIGNED FOR MAN UTD'

Manchester United pulled off one of their strangest Deadline Day moves when signing the unknown Andy Kellett as the clock ticked down in January 2015.

Erik ten Hag's Red Devils enjoyed a busy final day of the transfer window this summer, with a midfield enforcer finally joining in £50million Manuel Ugarte as well as the departures of academy graduate Scott McTominay and outcast winger Jadon Sancho - who joined Chelsea in an initial loan deal after they lost Raheem Sterling to Arsenal.

Nine years ago, when the January deadline loomed, a different Dutchman, Louis van Gaal, was at the helm. On a day that saw Wilfried Zaha re-join Crystal Palace from Old Trafford, Bolton defender Kellett was curiously announced as a United player in a loan deal.

Kellett now plies his trade for the newly re-formed ninth-tier Bury FC after stints with an array of non-league sides and recalled the day he found out he would be unexpectedly signing for one of England's most successful and recognisable outfits.

"The deal at Plymouth had all been agreed. So I went to the training ground on Deadline Day, quite late on actually," Kellett told Daily Star Sport.

"I went in and the manager said there’s an option for you to go to Man Utd on loan if you want. So that’s how it came about. I was going down to the training ground to sign for Plymouth and I ended up coming away signing for Man Utd!

"At first I was quite shocked by it. But then further on in the night I got quite emotional because it was quite a big thing. I can’t really remember my initial reaction, I just think I was in a bit of shock really.

"It literally had everything," continued Kellett. "It was a culture shock. The six months before I was at Plymouth, which I really enjoyed, but they didn’t have the kind of facilities that United had. So it was a massive, massive shock in terms of that."

The Englishman failed to make a senior appearance for the Red Devils, instead featuring a select few times for their U23 side, but that didn't mean he didn't get to rub shoulders with some of the club's biggest stars.

"On most of the training days lads like myself would go over to the first team whenever they needed bodies," said Kellett. "So I trained with them quite a lot. When the first team had games, the lads who weren’t in the squad would drop down to the 23s, so there was always a lot of experience in training.

"Obviously the standard was very good. I’ve always said this to people, though; I don’t know whether it was the surfaces or playing with better players, but it felt a lot easier than playing in the lower leagues where it’s a bit more like pinball.

"In training, you would get time on the ball, whereas lower down the levels everything was kind of frantic. If you gave someone an opportunity to score, they would score nine times out of ten. In terms of the standards, they were a lot higher. But in terms of actually playing, it felt like you had a lot more time than you would lower down."

Kellett left Old Trafford for Wigan Athletic after returning from loan that summer, signing a three-year deal with his club's rivals. Spells with Chesterfield, Notts County, Fylde, Alfreton Town, and Guiseley followed before the 30-year-old joined his current club.

"There is one question I ask myself," Kellett added as he reflected on his dreamy move to England's top flight. "At the time Plymouth were in the playoffs, and they got to a play-off final that season. Could I have gone down that route, maybe?

"If we’d had gone up that year, we would have been League One. But, I don’t think going from playing first-team to United’s under-23s - I don’t think that would have done me any harm. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

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2024-08-31T15:11:29Z dg43tfdfdgfd