New Standard Liege goalkeeper Victor Valdes has indicated that he bears no ill will towards Louis van Gaal, despite making just two appearances during his time at Manchester United.
Van Gaal signed Valdes, 34, in January 2015 once he was satisfied that the Spanish keeper had made a full recovery from a cruciate ligament injury that he had suffered the previous year.
However, Valdes moved to Belgium on loan late last month after being frozen out of the squad at Old Trafford when Van Gaal accused him of refusing to play for the reserves.
Valdes, whose United contract expires in the summer, said last week that he was keen to get back to playing more regularly, but on Thursday he refused to criticise Van Gaal, whom he also worked with at Barcelona.
"He discovered me at the age of 20," Valdes told reporters in Liege. "After my injury he was the one who called me to come to United. You have to be grateful."
United midfielder Marouane Fellaini knows Standard Liege well, but Valdes revealed that he actually took advice from one of the Belgian club's lesser-known former players before leaving Manchester.
"I didn't have time to talk to [Fellaini] because I left really quickly," Valdes said in an interview with Belgian news website DHnet. "We'll contact each other to talk about the club and the city that he knows very well.
"On the other hand, I had a discussion with Ilias Moutha-Sebtaoui, a young Manchester United keeper who came from Standard and who told me that it was a big club and that I'd feel good here. He wasn't mistaken."
Valdes has made a solid start to life in Belgium.
Last weekend he kept a clean sheet on debut as Standard kept their push for a top-six playoff place on track with a 2-0 win at OH Leuven. He then helped his new side reach the Belgian Cup final, where they will face Club Brugge next month, after a 1-1 draw at Genk on Tuesday in the second leg of their semifinal.
The former Spain international is due to make his home debut for Standard against Sint-Truiden on Sunday.