Marcos Rojo continues to be the man of the moment in La Plata, since his signing for Estudiantes is still in the headlines.
The defender was presented by the Argentine club on Monday, and has given a press conference about the process to get the loan agreed from the Manchester United end.
Speaking of the reason he chose to leave the Red Devils, Marcos Rojo revealed he spoke to the national team manager, and decided he needed more playing time to get a place in the squad.
“In March the qualifiers start and it is important to be on pace. He told me that to be there I had to play, that’s why my idea was to leave Manchester and get this,” said Rojo (via TNT).
The defender said the talks between Estudiantes and Manchester United had been ongoing for a while. During that time, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was asked about a Rojo exit, and implied he wouldn’t be going anywhere.
“When I had the OK of the club, the first one I called was my mother and said: ‘Don’t say anything’. Zero, she told me. She told everyone, ha. It was hard for the club to make my return difficult. We had been talking a lot. It was when the coach said that I was going to stay there. When he said that, it was already advanced. I didn’t understand why Solskjaer said it.”
The likelihood is that with the deal not fully agreed, the Manchester United manager didn’t want to suggest otherwise, and then have it clear Rojo was an unwanted player had the return to Estudiantes failed.
Rojo is surely experienced enough to know this.