Van Gaal unceremoniously placed Valdes on the transfer list at Old Trafford last summer after claiming the former Barca stopper had refused to take part in a reserve team fixture.
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“It’s difficult to explain, but it was hard being alone”. Sometimes at United I thought “I don’t need this”, but I am a fighter and a professional.
Having kicked off the season with a 3-1 win away at Bournemouth, the game also sees new United manager Jose Mourinho make his competitive Old Trafford bow since succeeding Louis van Gaal in the summer.
M.E.N. Sport reported in July the atmosphere at United’s Carrington training ground was “relaxed” and United players expected to have more attacking freedom than during the rigid reign of Van Gaal.
He added: ‘I feel like a professional again after all those hard days in Manchester.
As Fernando Torres defends his decision to leave Liverpool, here’s five players who switched clubs on bad terms. ‘This was the biggest fight of my career and I won it. The easy way out would have been to end my career’. David de Gea chose to stay at United after Mourinho was appointed, since his relationship with Van Gaal and goalkeeping coach Frans Hoek had disintegrated.
Valdes remembers the better times he had with the Dutchman, who was Barcelona head coach when the goalkeeper was rising up through the ranks as a teenager.
Valdes made just two Premier League appearances for United but has a chance to experience regular top-flight football with Boro this season.
“He’s like a father figure to me”.
Valdes went on to express his gratitude to Man United U21 coach Alan Fettis, who kept him going at the club and coaxed him to continue playing when he considered retirement. Without him, I may have given up football.
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Unfortunately, his United career could not have panned out much worse and he has now revealed how his nightmare spell in Manchester nearly drove him to retirement.
