Despite their struggles to lift trophies in recent years, Manchester United remain one of the biggest clubs on the planet. As a result, it is not easy to get regular minutes for the club and many players have left over the years in search of playing time.
Morgan Schneiderlin is one such player. He arrived at Old Trafford after showing a lot of promise during his stint at Southampton and was featuring for the France national team at that time as well.
And to be honest, he did not have a bad time at Manchester United either. In his first season at the club, he made 39 appearances for the Red Devils. But ultimately, he was not as impressive as when he was at Southampton and there was a period of time in the 2015/16 season where he did not feature much.
This possibly led to him falling down Didier Deschamps’ pecking order and not even making an appearance for his national team at the 2016 EURO, which was the reason why he decided to join Everton the following season. While speaking with Eurosport and as reported by Sport Witness, Schneiderlin said:
"“My regret is to not have played the 2016 Euros, and I’ll have that regret all my life. Between 2014 and 2016, I’m in pretty much every national team squad, the manager had faith in me, he’d told me. The period of two to three months where I played less at Manchester cost me my spot as an important player for the France national team. It hurt me.“I made the choice of going to Everton. I could have accepted to play less at Manchester United in 2016 when I came back from the Euros, but to not have played at the Euros, it really hit me. I told myself the most important was to play even if it was in a less exposed team. I maybe should have stayed at Manchester and kept my head down.”"
More from Manchester United News
- Aaron Wan Bissaka out for ‘several weeks’ with injury
- Sofyan Amrabat set to miss game against Brighton
- Preview: Manchester United vs Brighton – What you need to know
- Jadon Sancho set to train away from first team squad
- Mike Phelan blasts Manchester United teammates over Ronaldo exit
Schneiderlin could have had a bigger role at Manchester United
As we stated earlier, 39 appearances in his first season at the club was not bad at all and Schneiderlin could have enjoyed a bigger role at Old Trafford. He ended up moving to Everton though and his spell at Goodison Park was not as successful as he would have envisioned.
In his last two seasons at the club, he made just 34 appearances combined. And he joined OGC Nice in the past summer transfer window.
Now 31 years of age, Schneiderlin appears to be back in the first-team picture. He has made 26 appearances for the French club already as they aim to finish in the top half of the Ligue 1 table.
Ultimately, his Manchester United career might not have gone down as most would have expected but he did give his best whenever he was on the pitch. And we can only wish him the best of luck moving forward, wherever he plays.