Everton midfielder James Garner has revealed details of his Manchester United exit, noting that an injury and a conversation with Erik ten Hag convinced him his time at the club had come to an end.
Garner joined United’s famous academy aged seven and went on to make seven appearances for the first team, having made his debut in February 2019.
There was optimism that he would have a big role to play in Erik ten Hag’s first year in charge following a stellar season with Nottingham Forest, in which he helped them gain promotion to the Premier League. However, the Englishman suffered an injury during Ten Hag’s first day in charge.
Ten Hag eventually made Garner available for transfer and he joined Everton for an initial fee of £9m, which could eventually rise to £15.5m.
Speaking on the More than A Match podcast, Garner explained, “I felt like I had a chance because I’d proven myself on loan. They could see that I was serious to try and take up a spot, but obviously, the new manager came in, Ten Hag, and I got injured on the first day of pre-season, which killed me.”
“I’ve come back and I want to show people that I’ve developed in the gym and all that, doing everything maxed out and all that stuff, and I’ve maxed out on my quad… I tore it basically.
“I was running and every time I planted on my right side it felt like my right side was 20 kilograms heavier than the left. It was weird, so I got a scan and I was out for three weeks.”
“I missed the first few weeks of the new manager. That was his very first session and I was injured on the first day.”
Garner continued, “He’s come to implement his new style and a new way of playing, and I got injured on the first day. I’m not saying I would have stayed. I could have. I might have hit the ground running on the first day and he might have thought ‘I’m keeping him, he’s good’. I might have suited him, but we’ll never know.”
“We went to Thailand and came back. I played one or two games, but didn’t play as well as I’d liked, coming back from injury, being nervous and wanting to impress.”
“And then it was kind of a conversation, so I went to see him [Ten Hag] and I said ‘honestly I kind of want some kind of answer whether I’m going to play a part of this season.’ He said ‘You’re going to play a part, but I’m not going to promise anything.’ I thought I’d got my answer.”
“I’m not scared to go out of my comfort zone. I think it’s time now to go and play. I didn’t want to stagnate, I didn’t want to sit on the bench after playing every single game in the season before.”
Garner is unlikely to regret leaving United, as he has become a key player for Everton. It’s expected that the Toffees will open talks soon with his camp over a new deal to extend his stay in Merseyside.
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Derick Kinoti Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
