I hit my lowest moment at Manchester United last season – Now I’ve left, I’m a thriving international

Maxi Oyedele has described that after hitting the lowest point of his career at Manchester United, he is now a thriving Polish international.

The 2024 summer transfer window was a very active one for Manchester United, with the squad bringing in five new first-team players and a host of Academy talent.

However, the club also got rid of multiple first-team and Academy players, with the likes of Scott McTominay, Mason Greenwood, and Willy Kambwala, all Academy graduates, leaving the club.

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Another that departed in the summer, much to the surprise of Bruno Fernandes, was Maxi Oyedele, who left for Polish side Legia Warsaw for a six-figure sum.

Oyedele had an impressive pre-season on tour, but it was ultimately decided that the 19-year-old was not one of the next players to make the step up to the first team, and he was moved on as deadline day approached.

Oyedele’s lowest moment

Last season, Oyedele went on loan to Forest Green Rovers but was recalled shortly after following an incident that led to him being substituted in the second half against League Two opposition Crawley Town after coming on at half-time – something he described as one of his lowest points.

“It was terrible,” Oyedele told SPORTbible in a recent interview. “You feel embarrassed. You think to yourself, ‘What’s going on? What am I not doing right?’ I felt numb. I’ve never had that feeling before.

“I remember the game wasn’t going the way we completely wanted it to,” he recalls. “I got told I would be playing on the right wing, a position that, in all honesty, I’m not comfortable in. I’m a midfielder – a six or an eight. But I just wanted to get on and do what I could.

“The manager wasn’t happy with what I was doing and decided to bring me off,” he recalled. “There’s nothing lower than getting brought on and then bought off.

“I remember coming out and speaking to my agent, Carlos, and my head was all over the place but he just said, ‘Keep your head up. This experience will make you stronger.’ I was in Swindon at the time and had no one to be around.”

Shortly after, it was agreed that Oyedele would return to United as his parent club thought he’d benefit more from training with the first team and playing in U21 fixtures.

Flying high in Poland

The young midfielder then joined Erik ten Hag’s squad for the 2024 pre-season tour of the USA, where he impressed fans but ultimately secured his move to Legia.

These days, Oyedele is flying high. After making his debut for the club at the end of September and then being afforded his first league start, he was called up to the Polish international team, which he qualifies for through his mother.

“I was at the mall,” Oyedele explained when asked how he found out about his call-up. “I was buying something unimportant. I opened Instagram, and the first thing that popped up on my feed was the Poland squad list. I saw my name and I started screaming. Everybody must have been like, ‘Why is this guy screaming?’.

“I started calling everybody but nobody was picking up. Both of my parents and my agent didn’t answer. And then I called my friends. Kobbie [Mainoo] and Hannibal [Mejbri]. Both of them said, ‘No way!'”

“It means a lot to play for Poland. To be able to come up through the youth teams and get my first cap, and start in my first game… I can’t put it into words. Everything has happened so fast. I’ll be forever grateful to the manager for giving me that opportunity.”

Oyedele went on to play for Poland in a 3-1 loss against Portugal, where he came up against his former teammate Fernandes. In hindsight, he explained that he feels his low moment at Forest Green has played a big role in his career so far and is one of the best things that could have happened.

“I’ve never said this out loud before, but for me, the Forest Green experience was the best possible thing to happen,” Oyedele said. “Going through that at such a young age, and with it going that poorly. It doesn’t get worse than that. I was at my lowest point.

“But now, I know how it feels when things don’t go right. It’s the complete opposite of what’s happening now.”

He continued, “Some players don’t go through tough moments, and that’s not always a good thing because when it does come, how are you going to deal with that? I went through it, and it’s helped me in the long term, both as a player and as a person.”

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