James Garner discussed Erik ten Hag‘s “strict” regime at Manchester United while confessing he knew his time was up at the club after a heart-to-heart with the Dutchman.
The 23-year-old lived the dream by playing seven times for his boyhood club, but a lack of opportunity meant he departed in favour of Everton who snapped him up in a £15million switch in 2022.
He previously opened up about his Old Trafford exit that was sparked by a conversation with Ten Hag who was in his first summer as Red Devils boss. In 2023, the midfielder discussed the Dutchman’s penchant for running a tight ship.
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“Ten Hag is a very approachable guy but is very strict,” Garner said. “He takes no one bending the rules. He will say it how it is and will punish people if they have done the wrong things.”
The Everton ace admitted their conversation didn’t go in the direction he was hoping for, which subsequently led to his exit. “My talk with him was easy. I asked him plain and simple whether I was going to be in the squad or if he saw me playing a part. I felt the conversation did not go as well as I wanted and I made the decision to move,” reports the Manchester Evening News.
(Image: Getty)
After impressing on loan at Nottingham Forest and helping them clinch a spot in the Premier League in the 2021/22 season, Garner wasn’t willing to accept a decreased role in order to remain at United, having racking up 69 appearances in two seasons with Forest.
“I definitely had conversations with him [Ten Hag] but I’d just come off the back of a good season, probably the best season I possibly could have had so I didn’t want to stagnate and sit on the bench week in, week out,” Garner added.
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(Image: Catherine Ivill)
“Nothing is promised in football but when they start signing three, four midfielders you kind of understand your place. It was a decision that I wanted to make as soon as I went back, to go find first-team football somewhere else.”
Garner has made his mark at Goodison Park since joining – proving a key figure for Sean Dyche and featuring in almost every game last season, playing a vital role in their struggle against relegation.