Scott McTominay says Jose Mourinho "was amazing for me" at Manchester United - but added the Portuguese did give him a "serious b******ing".
McTominay came through the ranks at Manchester United under Mourinho, before he was sacked in December and replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Since the Norwegian has taken the reins McTominay has continued to make steady progress at Old Trafford and was the club's man of the match in the recent Champions League defeat by Barcelona.
Mourinho played some mind games with McTominay early on in his Manchester United career, to "see what sort of lad he had on his hands", explains the Scot.
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And it seems the midfielder is confident he passed the test.
"Jose was amazing for me," McTominay told The Times. "Though when I first came in Jose gave me a serious, serious b******ing.
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I was arguing with one of the first team lads in training and he said 'hey, kid, when you come into the first team, the other players - they have to like you.'
"'You're not a superstar', he said and I drove back to digs thinking 'have I just ruined it for myself? I couldn't believe it.
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"I thought 'I hope he knows I don't think I'm a star, I'm the polar opposite.' He probably just wanted to see what I was made of, what sort of lad he had on his hands.
"You're liked by what you do on the pitch and how you are off the pitch and I feel Mourinho saw something in me at a time some people did and some people didn't, and I'm grateful."
