Former Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera has admitted that he was left heartbroken by the way the club handled his contract situation, revealing that he expected to be rewarded with a new deal after winning the club’s Player of the Year award.

The Spaniard enjoyed one of the best spells of his career at Old Trafford during the 2016-17 campaign and was voted Manchester United‘s Player of the Year. Herrera believed his performances would earn him a contract extension and even told his agent he would accept whatever offer the club made because of how happy he was in Manchester.

However, things did not unfold as he had hoped and he never got his desired extension. During a conversation with Rio Ferdinand on Rio Meets (via sportbible on Instagram), the 37-year-old narrated how the situation developed, saying:

“When I won United’s Player of the Year award, I expected the club to come to me. I said to my agent, ‘Whatever they offer is going to be okay. I want to sign because I’m so happy here.'”

“Every week, I was on holiday saying to my agent, ‘Did they call you?’ ‘No, not yet.’ The season starts, I was playing, they did not call. What killed me was when they sent me a letter saying they are automatically triggering my fifth year here. They didn’t even call me to say, ‘Ander, we wanted you to stay.’ I was so happy, giving everything, but my heart was broken.”

Herrera also recalled that he confronted former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward over the decision.

“I said to Ed Woodward, ‘Do you think I deserve to be sent a letter? Couldn’t you have come to me and talk?'” he added.

Herrera joined Manchester United from Athletic Club in the summer of 2014. He went on to spend five seasons at Old Trafford, bagging 20 goals and 27 assists in 189 appearances across all competitions before leaving for Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent in 2019.

Manchester United’s struggles continue this season

The Red Devils put in another embarrassing performance in midweek as they fell to a 2-0 defeat against Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League. They have now failed to win any of their last five games across all competitions.

Michael Carrick’s men currently occupy the 13th position in the Premier League table with six points from as many games after recording one win, three draws and two defeats in the English top flight so far.

They’re also out of the EFL Cup following a 3-2 loss to Brighton in the third round on September 16. Manchester United now have a huge job to do to salvage their sinking ship and they must do it before it is too late. They will face Leeds United in their next league game this weekend.