Morgan Schneiderlin has admitted he found it "painful" to attend and watch games at Old Trafford in the closing stages of his Manchester United career.

The Frenchman signed for United in the summer of 2015 and made 44 appearances under Louis van Gaal, notably helping the side lift last year’s FA Cup at Wembley.

But the 27-year-old drifted to the periphery of the squad under current manager Jose Mourinho and was eventually sold to Everton in January.

In a recent interview with The Times, Schneiderlin revealed that he stopped attending games in December because it had become too “hard” for him.

“I will be honest, there was one point in December when I did not go to matches any more because it was hard,” he confessed.

“It was painful. I couldn’t go there, smile, and sign autographs for fans and pretend to be happy when I was not. For me it was better to watch the game at home.

“When I arrived at Manchester, the thing with the manager, with Van Gaal, I was not thinking as myself any more.

Louis van Gaal's Manchester United signings Show all 12 1 /12 Louis van Gaal's Manchester United signings Louis van Gaal's Manchester United signings Ander Herrera The Spaniard signed from Athletic Bilbao for £29million in the summer of 2014 Getty Louis van Gaal's Manchester United signings Luke Shaw The England left-back became Van Gaal's second signing arriving from Southampton for £27m Getty Louis van Gaal's Manchester United signings Marcos Rojo The Argentine joined from Sporting CP for £16m Getty Louis van Gaal's Manchester United signings Angel Di Maria The Argentine joined from Real Madrid for what was then a British record transfer £59.7m Getty Louis van Gaal's Manchester United signings Daley Blind The versatile Blind arrived from Ajax for £14m in September 2014 Getty Louis van Gaal's Manchester United signings Victor Valdes After a short period training with the club Valdes joined on a free in January 2015 Getty Louis van Gaal's Manchester United signings Memphis Depay Dutch winger Depay arrived from PSV for an initial £24m in the summer of 2015 Getty Louis van Gaal's Manchester United signings Matteo Darmian The Italian international moved from Torino in July 2015 Getty Louis van Gaal's Manchester United signings Bastian Schweinsteiger The World Cup winning German international swapped Munich for Manchester in July 2015 Getty Louis van Gaal's Manchester United signings Morgan Schneiderlin The Frenchman joined from Southampton for an undisclosed fee Getty Louis van Gaal's Manchester United signings Sergio Romero The Argentine goalkeeper joined on a free in July 2015 Getty Louis van Gaal's Manchester United signings Anthony Martial The French forward made the move from Monaco on deadline day in 2015 for a fee suggested to be an initial £50m Getty

“I was thinking more like what he wanted me to do, and every time I arrived on a football pitch I was not thinking about what I could do when I get the ball. I was thinking what he wants me to do.

“There is a difference. When you think too much about things, that is when you start to miss things, like being late for a challenge.”

Since joining Everton in January, Schneiderlin has made 10 appearances for the club and is now enjoying regular first-team action.

The Frenchman’s form also appears to have returned having completed 89 per cent of his attempted passes in the Premier League with Everton.