Sunderland defender Paddy McNair has revealed that he wanted to quit Manchester United even though the Devils wanted him to go on loan.
The 21-year-old Northern Irishman came into the spotlight during the tenure of Louis van Gaal and was expected to have a long lasting impression. However, the departure of the Dutch tactician proved to be the last stride for Paddy and soon after Jose Mourinho’s arrival, he was sold out to Sunderland for a four-year deal for a reported fee of £5.5 million past summer.
The defender has now opened up about his talks with Jose Mourinho about the transfer. While talking to BBC, the 21-year-old, who is nursing his ACL injury, said:
“He wanted me to go on loan and I went in to see Jose and just said ‘look, if you don’t let me go on a permanent, I’m just going to stay here.’
“That’s how strongly I thought about it. At the time, it’s what I wanted so I’ve got no regrets. I think he quite liked how I was straight up. I said I wanted to leave, that I didn’t want to go on loan.
“I think he respected that. I told him that I’d been here since I was 12-years-old and club could at least let me do what I want to do. I spoke to [United executive vice-chairman] Ed Woodward and said the same to him. I was refusing to go on loan basically. I just wanted a new challenge and off I went.”
Manchester United are now up against Toni Pulis’ West Brom and with United missing both of their key defensive members in Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, Mourinho will be trouble, mainly because he has recently switched to a three at the back formation.
