Former Tottenham scout Bryan King has revealed just how close Mohammed Kudus came to joining Manchester United nearly a decade ago.Mohammed Kudus has since returned for Tottenham Hotspur this season after spending six months sidelined with a quad tendon injury.Since his comeback, Kudus has featured off the bench in Premier League matches against Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Everton and Aston Villa. He registered an assist in the Villa clash, setting up Conor Gallagher for Spurs’ first goal of the season with some fine footwork and a clever cutback.The Ghana international remains the only Tottenham attacker to have contributed a goal involvement this season, underlining his importance in the final third.Credit: @thefrederikkejensen / InstagramEx-Tottenham scout reveals Man United’s Mohammed Kudus near missKudus joined Spurs in the summer of 2025 for £55 million from West Ham United, but former Tottenham scout Bryan King has revealed the winger could have been signed for far less back in 2017.Speaking to Football Insider, King explained: “I’ve known this boy since 2017 when he was playing for Nordsjaelland and so did a lot of clubs. Arsenal, Spurs, Man United, Aston Villa I was working with, were all aware of this player and were aware that he could be bought for somewhere in the region of about £800,000 at the time.“I know Manchester United were very close to signing him and they were messing around, as did Arsenal and as did Tottenham, and the thing that put Aston Villa out of the race was because they were in the Championship.“That put Villa out of it, but those three clubs all had the chance to sign him. The fee was about €7m, but Ajax came in and bought him for €9m. It’s funny because it was Erik ten Hag who brought him in, and it was very surprising that he never joined Man United.“My dear friend Tommy Moller Nielsen, who passed away a couple of years ago, was very much into Nordsjaelland and it looked as though it was going to be between Spurs and Man United for this player. Spurs seemed to back out and now, of course, Spurs have paid £55m for him, which again goes to show what kind of recruitment was going on at that football club.”Mohammed Kudus is key for Spurs this seasonGiven the player Kudus has become, it is easy to criticise Spurs for a perceived lack of decisiveness at the time. However, that’s not entirely fair, as the versatile winger was still extremely young then – only around 16 or 17 years old.Signing him in 2017 would have been a gamble, and he likely would not have made much of an impact at Tottenham at the time – especially with the Lilywhites not struggling in attack. Spurs had the likes of Harry Kane, Heung-min Son, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, and Erik Lamela all in their peak years.However, the Ghanaian has since proven himself, ultimately earning a big move in 2025 after consistently delivering in the Premier League following spells with Ajax.Now, Spurs need Kudus to show his qualities again following his return from injury. He has withdrawn from international duty to focus on his fitness, which is a major boost for Tottenham.The club will hope to have him fully fit when football resumes on 10 October against Manchester United.READ MORE: Tottenham’s Lucas Bergvall refuses to deny release clause in brand-new contractThe post Manchester United nearly beat Tottenham to Mohammed Kudus for just £800k appeared first on Spurs Web.