Aaron Wan-Bissaka has said he feared his Manchester United career was over during a spell out of the team following Erik ten Hag’s appointment as manager.
The defender spent three months on the sidelines after Ten Hag’s arrival last summer and didn’t start a single game before the break for the World Cup in November.
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He battled back to become United’s first-choice right-back during the second half of the season but the 25-year-old said that, at one point, he thought his time at Old Trafford might be up.
“You have that feeling, but for me, I always have that faith in myself to get myself out of situations like that,” Wan-Bissaka said. “I had my head screwed on and I was ready to do what it takes.
“It was a hard time and the only thing you can do during a hard time is keep working. I got my head down and then got the chance and was able to help the team.
“You can just sit there and complain about it and not care, or you can actually try and I thought the best way was for me to try.”
Wan-Bissaka is considered one of the best one-on-one defenders in the Premier League but said he has had to work on his attacking output to impress Ten Hag and win back his place in the team.
He is set for another battle for the right-back spot this season with competition from Portugal international Diogo Dalot.
“All the players have to give their all and do what he [Ten Hag] wants, that is something I had to adapt to and it’s helped me and I’m comfortable doing it now,” Wan-Bissaka added.
“He will tell you where to be at certain times, when to go in, when to go up and when to stay. Just to be more aggressive going forward, be in the right places, even if you don’t get the ball, you open a space for someone else, overlapping runs.”
Wan-Bissaka has also opened up about life under the microscope at United and his decision to shun social media.
The former Crystal Palace man has taken his fair share of criticism online since his move to United in 2019 and said he is content with life out of the spotlight.
“When I was at Palace I used to see players from other clubs, what they go through, what to expect, so when it happened it’s hard to deal with it, but you just block it out and focus on the main thing which is football,” he said.
“It can be hard, especially outside of football. You go for a meal or something with family and fans are coming up wanting pictures and autographs and stuff. I don’t think they understand when is the right time to approach or not.
“I’m not logged in [to Twitter]. I was never on it, I made an account and just linked it to Instagram so what I posted on there went on Twitter as a post. I don’t do tweets. I can’t keep up. Twitter can be a dark place, so I avoid it.”
