Marouane Fellaini said he expected to leave Manchester United in the summer but has hit back at criticism of his form during a difficult first season at Old Trafford.
Fellaini, 27, followed manager David Moyes from Everton to Old Trafford in 2013 and had a difficult settling-in period as United endured a miserable season under the Scot.
It had appeared that he would be offloaded to Napoli last summer after Louis van Gaal's arrival, but that move fell through, apparently as the result of the Belgium international suffering an injury.
Asked whether he had thought he would leave United, Fellaini told the Daily Mail: "Yes, but I have a contract. I talked with the new manager and he told me I have to show him, prove to him. I accept that.
"I am a footballer so I like that competition. I said I will fight for my place and then we will see at the end of the season."
He has since established himself as an important player under Van Gaal, to the extent that Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho asked Kurt Zouma to perform a man-marking role on the midfielder during the Premier League leaders' 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge last weekend.
"It's a good compliment, but it was difficult, because all game the guy was on me and I couldn't play," Fellaini said. "Against Everton as well, there was a player on me. It was the same."
Moyes said recently that Fellaini had suffered when he went to Old Trafford because of United's failure to land any other signings in the summer after his appointment, and the player came to be linked with the former Everton manager's struggles at Old Trafford.
Asked whether Moyes' exit was key to the reappraisal of his performances, Fellaini said: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now David Moyes is in Spain [with Real Sociedad], so if I came here it would be different. We were together. People saw us like that. Of course I feel sorry for him, but it's over now.
"Everyone thought we were very close, but he was my manager. I was close to him, but I did not live with him. I respect him but it's not like we were best friends.
"It was a difficult season for everyone, not just me, but the criticism was on me because I was the transfer of Moyes. I did some good games but even those I was criticised for. A lot of people talked about me, about my quality.
"I had played five years in England and every season I played very well for Everton. Then, for one year, I lost my football, I lost my quality, I lost everything. Bulls---. That's my opinion. And now my quality has come back. But that's not right, that's not right.
"The difference this summer is five players come, not just me. It would have been completely different if five players had arrived at the same time as me, but they did not. Just me. So I was in the middle of it. Sometimes, I didn't play, and it was still me. I was injured for three months -- still me. It was stupid, a bad experience."
Fellaini also praised Van Gaal for his intelligent approach to games, but he said that having had time to settle in at the club was central to his improved form.
"It is better for me," he said. "I know my teammates, I know my manager, I know the club. It was new to me, when I joined. It is a big club, I knew that, and I knew we had to win every game, but it was still different. Massive.
"Everyone says it -- when you are inside, it is completely strange at first -- and I felt that. It didn't work well for me, but you learn to adjust day by day, coming in, training, seeing the same people walking about. It is nearly two years now. And then it's just your club."
He added: "This is a big club and I wanted to show I can play here. I worked hard. This season I haven't played every game, but I have played more than last season. I play much better than last year, but the team play much better as well, so it has been good for us all.
"Now we're one year on and I've forgotten about the past. It is a new challenge. About last season, I don't care anymore. I play. That is all that matters."