Sunderland defender Paddy McNair has opened up on his Manchester United exit by revealing he made it clear to Jose Mourinho he wouldn’t be leaving on loan – United had to sell him or keep him at Old Trafford.
Mourinho had wanted McNair to spend this season on loan but with the 21 year old looking for regular first team involvement – that he didn’t think would come with Man United – he made the decision to move on, joining the Black Cats last summer.
He told the BBC, via the Daily Mail.
‘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”.’
McNair feels Mourinho liked the fact he made his feelings clear and despite Sunderland being bottom of the Premier League there were no regrets about his move to the Stadium of Light.
‘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.’
Having informed Mourinho of his decision the Northern Ireland international believes ‘the Special One’ respected his stance. McNair then went to Ed Woodward and got the move to end his long association with the club.
‘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 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.’
McNair had made 18 appearances for Man United following his debut in September 2014 but the 2015-16 season saw his chances limited with the defender likely to fall further down the pecking order under Mourinho.
Had it not been for a cruciate knee ligament injury McNair would have been a regular at Sunderland under David Moyes.
