I Regretted It Very Quickly’ former Manchester United player cries out

‘I Regretted It Very Quickly’ former Manchester United player cries out

December 2024 saw the Friedkin Group, who also own Serie A giants Roma, complete their takeover of Everton, taking majority control of the club and ending the reign of previous owner Farhad Moshiri. Under Moshiri, things were rocky at best, with the former owner known for his questionable, high-profile signings.

 

Moshiri owned Everton for almost nine years in total, an era that saw the Toffees regress from competing for Europe to, eventually, battling to keep their place in the Premier League. Signings such as Michael Keane, Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Davy Klaassen, to name just a few, surmise Moshiri’s reign of power, big-money moves that never quite made the impact that was expected of them. Few, if any, have gone down as some of Everton’s best players.

 

With a new ownership, a steady manager in David Moyes and a new stadium on the horizon, Everton fans can finally feel optimistic once again. That is not to take away, however, from how some players have struggled on Merseyside in recent years, none more so than this midfielder, who has admitted that he regrets pushing through his move to Everton.

 

‘I Regretted It Very Quickly’

Schneiderlin looks back on ill-fated Everton move

Morgan Schneiderlin

Back in 2022, former midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin spoke to L’Equipe, via Sport Witness, about his move to Everton. A defensive midfielder, Schneiderlin established himself in England with Southampton, who he joined in 2008 and across seven years, helped Southampton rise from League One to the Premier League.

 

Schneiderlin, who was called up to the French national team as a result of his form with Southampton, earned a big-money move to Manchester United in 2015, but would only spend two years with the Red Devils before joining Everton for a similar fee in January 2017.

 

Across the next three-and-a-half years, Schneiderlin struggled to establish himself in the Everton first team. There was a stint in the 2018/19 campaign, between October and February, in which Schneiderlin did not start a single game. Though then-manager Marco Silva attributed this to personal issues, it encapsulates the problems he faced at Goodison Park.

 

In reflecting on his time with Everton, Schneiderlin stated:

 

“I learned a lot from my departure from Manchester United. I had played 40 matches the previous season with Manchester. When I came back from the Euros, I took ten days off and played very little for three, four months.

 

 

“Then, I have Ronald Koeman and Everton who are pushing hard to get me, every day, from October (2016). I will remember it all my life: I should have played against Liverpool (as a) starter and the coach (Jose Mourinho) came to see me. He tells me that he doesn’t feel me inside the group. I tell him that indeed, with what has happened in the last three months, I am not in it and I want to go to Everton.

 

“I regretted it very quickly. Even if it went well at Everton, when you play for Manchester United, when you’re at a club like that, it’s not for a moment of doubt that you have to question everything.”

 

Schneiderlin retired in 2024 after brief stints in Turkish and Greek football. Though he still enjoyed a brilliant career, it is clear that the former defensive midfielder feels that things could have been very different had he spent longer at Old Trafford.

 

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