Prior to making his 25 minute cameo in Everton’s 4-0 clinical thumping of Manchester City, Morgan Schneiderlin had only spent 11 minutes on Premier League pitches this season.
Transferring to Goodison Park for £24m, the France midfielder was barely considered by José Mourinho, and a move to a club where he would play on a regular basis was the most logical thing he could have done.
He said: “If you look at my time there. I arrived with great ambitions after good times at Southampton. I had one good season with Manchester United, even if we had a lot of critics by how we played. This year I came back a bit late because of the Euros, Mourinho had already made his choices.
“I didn’t have the time on the pitch I wanted. I went to see him (José Mourinho) and said ‘I’m honoured to play for Manchester United, but I need to play’. I don’t consider my time there a failure. I learnt a lot, but I wanted to do more at that club”
The player also admitted he had a lot of options for a transfer outside of England, including the possibility of joining Marseille, but Schneiderlin revealed he told his agent he primarily wanted to continue in England, and when the opportunity to join Everton presented itself, he just jumped.
Why? “I knew Koeman. We talked. He knows how I play, how to use me in every formation, in 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3. He knows my qualities, and I felt this was the best choice for me to get back to my best.”
Everton are currently 7th in the league after 21 games, seven points behind his former club, who drew 1-1 at the weekend at home to Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
