Thomas Cleverley has revealed he left Manchester United in order to join Aston Villa on a season-long loan, because of the boo-boys at Old Trafford.
The English midfielder has come under a lot of scrutiny in recent years for his performances and has been heavily criticised by fans and pundits across football, and he has admitted that it was when his own fans started to turn on him, that he knew it was time to leave.
Cleverley secured a last-minute season-long loan move to Aston Villa, where he hopes to re-start his career, and he has admitted in an interview that he was hurt by the Old Trafford fans booing him.
He said: “If any footballer gets a bit of stick off their own fans they are going to be hurt. Football is a game of opinions and you can’t please everyone.
“I am happy to get away from some of the negativity. Whenever you are not winning trophies at Man United the players are going to get some stick.”
Cleverley isn’t the only player who has been targeted by his own fans as Marouane Fellaini was also jeered and booed during a pre-season game by his own fans, but the Belgium international’s proposed move to Napoli broke-down due to an ankle injury.
Speaking further on his exit, Cleverley said that he didn’t really have time to say goodbyes so the departure wasn’t emotional for him.
He added: “I wasn’t emotional or anything like that. I didn’t get a chance to say many goodbyes. It is something I had prepared myself for.
“Louis van Gaal was always straight with me. I had a fairly good pre-season where we won every game, but he has his own players. The manager made it fairly clear it wasn’t going to happen for me there.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
