Paddy McNair has claimed that he went against Jose Mourinho's wishes in leaving Manchester United last summer.
The Northern Ireland international joined Sunderland from Man United in a £5.5m move before the start of the 2016-17 campaign after struggling to establish himself at Old Trafford.
McNair, however, has revealed that new Red Devils boss Mourinho wanted him to leave on loan rather than on a permanent deal, which was something that the 21-year-old was not prepared to consider.
"He wanted me to go on loan and I went in to see Jose and just said 'look, if you don't let me go on a permanent, I'm just going to stay here'," McNair told BBC Sport.
"That's how strongly I thought about it. At the time, it's what I wanted so I've got no regrets. I think he quite liked how I was straight up. I said I wanted to leave, that I didn't want to go on loan.
"I think he respected that. I told him that I'd been here since I was 12-years-old and club could at least let me do what I want to do. I spoke to Ed Woodward and said the same to him. I was refusing to go on loan basically. I just wanted a new challenge and off I went."
McNair has been on the sidelines since November after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury, and the defender is not expected to feature until next season.