Manchester United: Ander Herrera excited by prospect of working alongside Jose Mourinho

The Spanish midfielder is hoping to establish himself at Old Trafford under the new manager

Herrera was in and out of the side under Louis van Gaal (Getty)

Ander Herrera is excited by the prospect of developing his game while working under the new Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, who he rates as ‘one of the best in the world’.

The Spanish midfielder has struggled to establish himself at Old Trafford since arriving from Athletic Bilbao two years ago, though he remains to be a popular figure among the club’s supporters.

Herrera was in and out of the side under Louis van Gaal, Mourinho’s predecessor, but will hope to seize every opportunity granted to him by the new manager.

“Working with Mourinho is a unique opportunity to work with one of the best in the world,” he told Spanish radio station La Ser, while on a charity trip to Equitorial Guinea.

“He has a widely acclaimed method of working and I want to learn and improve,” he added. “I consider his arrival to be a one-off opportunity for me to continue to develop and grow.”

Herrera broke ranks and spoke openly about the prospect of the former Chelsea manager replacing Van Gaal at United back in February.

In an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca, the midfielder refuted claims that Mourinho’s style would not suit the club’s professed ideals of attack-minded football.

"I find that funny [that Mourinho is considered negative]," he said.

"Let's see, Mourinho played at Chelsea with Cesc [Fabregas], Willian, Oscar, [Eden] Hazard and Diego Costa. There was only [Nemanja] Matic as a defensive midfielder. That's not an attractive style of play?"

Mourinho, meanwhile, complained that a dive by Herrera in the final minutes of United’s 1-0 league defeat at Stamford Bridge last season would be forgotten because it was not committed by a Chelsea player.

“I am happy that it was not a Chelsea player," Mourinho said at the time. "If it was a Chelsea player, on Sky it would be somebody’s ‘crimes’, it would be ‘cheating’, it would be ‘the champions of the team without fair play’ and these kind of things.

“Because it’s a Man United player tomorrow nobody remembers,” he added.

Herrera made a total of 41 appearances for United during the 2015/16 season, 28 of which came as a member of the starting line-up.