Manchester United: Ryan Giggs claims he told club to sign Kylian Mbappe, Gabriel Jesus

Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Former Manchester United and English soccer star Ryan Giggs says he told the Premier League power to sign Gabriel Jesus and Kylian Mbappe years ago.

Mbappe is now starring for Paris Saint-Germain, while Jesus is with rival Manchester City.

Giggs served as United's assistant manager between 2014 and 2016. He disagreed with Louis van Gaal on player transactions. The 44-year-old Giggs said in early December that he is interested in becoming the manager for Wales. Giggs ended his 29-year run with United in 2016.

He told The Times that several big name players slipped away from United under van Gaal.

"I watched Gabriel Jesus play three years ago," Giggs told The Times. "I watched Mbappé for a year. I was watching them with the scout and it was a no-brainer. It was just like, 'Get them.' It would have been £5 million or something - get them, loan them back - and that's where the recruitment could have been better."

Jesus signed with City from Palmeiras last year, while Mbappe was loaned to PSG from Monaco in August. Mbappe is expected to sign a longer deal to stay in Paris.

Giggs is promoting a new Class of '92 documentary, which will air on Sunday on Sky Sports. The footage follows Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes at Salford City.

United faces Leicester City at 2:45 p.m. Saturday in Premier League action at King Power Stadium.

"Could I be critical of my players? Yes, I could," United manager Jose Mourinho told reporters Friday. "But I keep thinking that they did enough to win, they lost when they were trying to win, they lost when they were the only team that people believed could win that match and they lost because it's football. So we move on and we move on quickly because tomorrow we have another match."