‘Visiting old friends’: Antonio Valencia returns to Manchester United’s training base as he poses with Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and former team-mates
* Antonio Valencia paid a visit to Manchester United training on Tuesday
* The Ecuadorian spent 10 years at Old Trafford before leaving in the summer
* He looked in good spirits as he posed with a number of his former team-mates
Antonio Valencia spent a portion of his Christmas Eve visiting his former team-mates at Manchester United training.
The Ecuadorian spent 10 years at Old Trafford between 2009 and 2019 before leaving in the summer after his contract was allowed to expire.
And he looked in good spirits as he returned to the club's Carirngton training complex.
L-R: Sergio Romero, Eric Bailly, Antonio Valencia, Paul Pogba, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Andreas Pereira during Manchester United training on Tuesday
'Visiting old friends', Valencia wrote alongside a picture of himself with Paul Pogba, Eric Bailly, Sergio Romero, Andreas Pereira and Timothy Fosu-Mensah on the training pitch.
He then shared another image of himself with Daniel James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic, Victor Lindelof and Ashley Young in the changing room.
Valencia recently revealed that him liking an Instagram post calling for Jose Mourinho to leave wasn't the reason why he barely featured for the club last season.
In October 2018, he liked an Instagram post which said that Mourinho had made making watching United 'a punishment' and also called for the manager 'to go'.
L-R: Daniel James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Valencia, Nemanja Matic, Victor Lindelof and Ashley Young in the changing room
The converted full-back stressed that he didn't intend to like the post and added that the fact that he subsequently only played one more Premier League game under Mourinho was due to calf injuries.
Valencia told The Athletic: 'OK, let's clear it up. I made a mistake. I was on Instagram and I pressed the 'like' button on a comment by a fan. I never realised what it said. Jose is a smart guy. It was nothing.
'I sought the manager out, I said sorry and end of story. He said, "No problem". I didn't play in the last few games for Jose but it was nothing to do with that. It was different reasons.'
'I had a series of calf injuries and it was affecting my performances. That's why I was missing.'
After 10 years at United, Valencia left the club last summer as he sealed a move to LDU Quito in his homeland on a free transfer.
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