Former Manchester United prospect Kenji Gorre has recalled how he ‘burst out crying’ after being told by Sir Alex Ferguson that he was being released by the club.
Gorre joined United‘s academy in 2002 from fierce rivals Manchester City, and played for the club’s youth teams at the same time as Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Ravel Morrison.
But he was released in 2013, ending a 11-year association with the club. He then went on trial with Celtic, before joining then Premier League side Swansea.
Gorre only made one senior appearance for the Swans – in the 2014/15 season – before spells on loan at Dutch side ADO Den Haag and Northampton Town of League Two.
After his Swansea departure in 2018, Gorre made the decision to move to Portugal, where he joined top division side Nacional before moving to Boavista.
He represents the Curacao national team, and faced off against Lionel Messi and Argentina in a friendly earlier this year.
Now, the 27-year-old winger has spoken about his time at United – including the highs and lows – and what it felt like to be told by Ferguson that he was going to be released.
Gorre on Man Utd release
Speaking on the ThreeSixtyTV series, released, Gorre said: “My coach, Paul McGuinness, said to me, ‘The boss wants to speak to you’, and I was like, ‘Wow, what’s going on here, I’m going into the office’.
“So I knocked on the door and Sir Alex says, ‘Come on son, come in. Kenji, first of all I appreciate you and I appreciate you as a man. You’ve had an amazing 10 years here and I can give you a contract right now, but I know that’s not going to do you any good’.”
He added: “Then he said, ‘I know that you’re not going to get the game time that you deserve, and I know the quality that you’ve got. This is the right time for you to move on and I want to thank you for your 10 years of being here’.
“I remember shaking his hand and saying thank you so much, and then I shut the door behind me. And I remember going downstairs, getting into my car, and I just burst out crying. I just let it all out.
“I remember feeling like I’d let everyone down. I’ve let my parents down who have sacrificed their life for me, that’s how it felt. It was so heavy. And I can remember not knowing who I was anymore. What was I gonna tell my friends?”
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