Man Utd fans were excited to see what James Garner could do in 2022 but he was quickly allowed to leave the club.
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Ten Hag sold Garner in 2022.(Image: 2024 Getty Images)
James Garner believes the injury he sustained during Erik ten Hag's first training session in charge at Manchester United damaged his chances of establishing himself at Old Trafford.
Garner progressed through United's academy and hoped to play a prominent role in Ten Hag's first season following an excellent loan spell with Nottingham Forest, who he helped gain promotion to the Premier League.
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However, Ten Hag made Garner available for transfer in the summer of 2022 and he signed for Everton for an initial fee of £9million, which could eventually rise to £15.5m.
Speaking shortly after his departure, Garner admitted his departure was "disappointing" and he recently provided further insight into why he felt leaving United was the best choice.
“I felt like I had a chance because I’d proven myself on loan," Garner told the More Than A Match Podcast. "They could see that I was serious to try and take up a spot, but obviously, the new manager came in, Ten Hag, and I got injured on the first day of pre-season, which killed me.
“I’ve come back and I want to show people that I’ve developed in the gym and all that, doing everything maxed out and all that stuff, and I’ve maxed out on my quad… I tore it basically.
“I was running and every time I planted on my right side it felt like my right side was 20 kilograms heavier than the left. It was weird, so I got a scan and I was out for three weeks. I missed the first few weeks of the new manager. That was his very first session and I was injured on the first day.
“He’s come to implement his new style and a new way of playing, and I got injured on the first day. I’m not saying I would have stayed. I could have. I might have hit the ground running on the first day and he might have thought ‘I’m keeping him, he’s good’. I might have suited him, but we’ll never know.”
Garner continued: "We went to Thailand and came back. I played one or two games, but didn’t play as well as I’d liked, coming back from injury, being nervous and wanting to impress.
"And then it was kind of a conversation, so I went to see him [Ten Hag] and I said ‘honestly I kind of want some kind of answer whether I’m going to play a part of this season’.
“He said ‘you’re going to play a part, but I’m not going to promise anything.’ I thought I’d got my answer. I’m not scared to go out of my comfort zone. I think it’s time now to go and play. I didn’t want to stagnate, I didn’t want to sit on the bench after playing every single game in the season before."
Garner joined United's academy aged seven and he was handed his first-team debut in February 2019. After leaving United, he told The Times: "In the moment it is very disappointing. That was the club that I trained with five times a week for years and years and years, that I made my debut with.
"But I didn't want to stagnate. I didn't want to stay there really and when they said I could leave also, I was in agreement with that. I just think it all made sense. I had two good seasons on loan and returned to United in the summer. I know in myself I wouldn't have played if I had stayed.
"I knew it was the perfect time now, at 21, to move on and try and stake my claim somewhere else and hopefully find a home, which I have now in Everton. Where I am at in my career now, I didn't just want to be an extra body or I didn't want to just be a spare player in training."