Timothy Fosu-Mensah has opened up on why he rejected a new contract at Manchester United ahead of his move to Bayer Leverkusen.
The defender joined the Bundesliga side for a fee of £1.8million in the January transfer window, when there were less than six months remaining on his deal at Old Trafford.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had keen to keep hold of Fosu-Mensah and reportedly tabled a new contract in December, which the 23-year-old rejected.
Fosu-Mensah had made just one Premier League appearance all season and admitted he had his heart set on regular minutes as he explained his decision to turn down the deal.
"It was my decision. The manager was good to me but at the end I was not playing a lot," said the Netherlands interantional.
"When you are 22, 23, 24 years old you need to be playing. I didn’t play much and I wanted to.
"It was the best decision in the end to go somewhere else where I would get more minutes.
"The club and the manager were good to me. I recovered from a big injury, they helped me, gave me minutes – I played in the FA Cup semi-final and the Europa League semi-final.
"But it’s important to play regularly and to get my opportunity in the national team too."
Fosu-Mensah also opened up on his positive relationship with Solskjaer, adding: "Ole has been very good to me.
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"I spoke with him because he had a big injury as a player so he knew exactly how I felt.
"When I played against Crystal Palace (last July) after 16 months out he was very happy for me. These were very good moments.
"He knew I had the quality. I have no bad things to say about him because he has been very good to me.
"But Bayer Leverkusen is a very nice club with tradition, good people and good players."
Fosu-Mensah is now enjoying life in Germany and has made four appearances for Leverkusen, who sit fifth in the Bundesliga.
"I can adapt quickly and the manager (Peter Bosz) has given me a good amount of minutes," said Fosu-Mensah.
"I know what the manager and club want and I’m working hard to fulfil the messages. It’s has been good so far. I just want to keep going."
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