The teenage star explains why he turned down a move to Manchester United and joined Bournemouth

Promising young goalkeeper Callan McKenna joined Bournemouth over Manchester United as the path to first-team football with the Cherries was clear.

The Manchester Evening News revealed in January that United were interested in signing McKenna, but that transfer talks were ongoing and nothing concrete had been agreed.

It has been suggested that United could pay a six-figure fee for McKenna, a fee that could eventually exceed seven figures depending on performance-related add-ons in a possible deal, but the 17-year-old has rejected a move to Manchester and completed a move to Bournemouth.

United often recruit emerging talent to join the academy and were hoping to sign McKenna, who broke into the first team at his former club Queen’s Park despite being just 17.

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Three months after signing for Bournemouth, McKenna revealed he quit United because he felt a move to the south coast was the better choice for his career.

The goalkeeper spoke to Bournemouth club media and said: “I had a 15-minute Zoom call with Simon Francis (Bournemouth assistant technical director) and Neil Moss (head of goalkeeping).

“I traveled to Manchester and met the people from Manchester United the day before the deadline. That night I had the Zoom call and I was invested to come here.

“The next morning the United guys came to take me to the training ground and I told them it’s not what I want. I thought I would be closer to the first team and you only have to look at some of the goalkeepers Bournemouth have brought in, like Mark Travers and Aaron Ramsdale.

“You want to follow in their footsteps. Came here sounded perfect and has been so far. It’s not just about the badge or saying you play for one team or another, that’s for later in my career.

“Hopefully in 20 years, you can say you’ve done X, Y or Z. But for the here and now, Bournemouth is perfect for me. It was hard to adjust to at first, but now I love it. This is my life now and I feel like I’m making good progress, so hopefully I can keep doing that.

“Hopefully coming here will put me on track to eventually play in the Premier League.”

Kenna has played for Bournemouth Under-18s and has been named on the bench for three Premier League games since leaving Queen’s Park in the January window.