'I loved United but I didn't feel that love back' - Ander Herrera on facing his old club

"For me, this is not football," he explains. "When I was a kid I fell in love with football because of the fans, the stadium, the atmosphere, the noise. Now it is not the same. Without fans I really suffer. When you go away you do not even get insulted! That's a shame, honestly."

There is little chance that Herrera would be abused by United fans given the five seasons he spent at Old Trafford, where his passion and appetite to battle in midfield saw him voted the club's player of the year in 2017. Herrera left having won the FA Cup and League Cup, as well as delivering a man of the match display in United's 2-0 win over Ajax in the Europa League final. True to form, he dedicated his award to the victims of the Manchester Arena attack.

So it is best - straight away - to deal with the circumstances surrounding his departure. It was after that stand-out season in 2016-'17 that Herrera hoped to extend his contract at United, only to be surprised by the club's lack of response. It meant his deal ran down and he left for free last year, joining PSG on a five-year contract.

Herrera is not the sort of person to harbour bitterness at the manner of his exit, and is keen to stress his "respect" for the club is undimmed. But there is still surprise at United's lack of enthusiasm at signing him up to new terms.

"My intention was not to leave the club and I was happy there, as happy as I am now here," Herrera explains. "It was not a secret. I was negotiating for more than one year but I expected more from the board after my third season at the club when I was player of the year. They didn't come to me that summer; they didn't even call me. And that was very painful for me because I had a feeling that I was giving everything.

"In saying that I have a huge respect for (executive vice-chairman) Ed Woodward, a huge respect for the board. They have always treated me fantastically. I know they want the best for Manchester United but in football, in life and in every company in the world, sometimes you don't think the same way and I respect that. If I see Ed I will give him a hug. We just had different opinions about Man United.

"I want to make sure everyone understands there is nothing personal at all. That's life. But it's true - after the third season when I was player of the year, when I had the respect and the love from the fans, I didn't feel that love from the club." Herrera's bond with United remains strong and it was telling that he was the last person who his former PSG team-mate, Edinson Cavani, called before he joined the club on deadline day.

"I think we spoke about five minutes before he said yes," Herrera explains. "He called me and said, 'I need to make a decision now and you are the last person I am speaking to before I make that decision'. I told him to play for Manchester United is an opportunity that is for the rest of your life. To play for other clubs in the Premier League you are a Premier League player but if you are a Manchester United player then you are a Manchester United player for life.

"It is different. I have been all around the world and been recognised as a Manchester United player and I have the respect of everyone. I think Cavani is also made for Old Trafford; the way he fights for every ball - even the way he celebrates goals. I told him he was going to play for the biggest club in the UK. I don't think he needed to hear that from me but mine was the last opinion."

Intriguing

Cavani's return to the Parc des Princes tonight is one of the more intriguing sub-plots to a mouth-watering game in a daunting Champions League group that also includes RB Leipzig and Turkish champions, Istanbul Basaksehir.

PSG overcame Leipzig in the last four of last season's competition before narrowly losing the final 1-0 to Bayern Munich. The disappointment took some time to get over. "You need that time to restart, to get some energy. It's football," Herrera says. "I guess Tottenham had a difficult few months after they reached the final the year before because similar to us it was the first time they had done that.

"I have the feeling that in this group you cannot make too many mistakes and as soon as you lose one game you are in trouble," Herrera says. "But these are the kind of games you want to play in the Champions League.

"We have done something great and the experience of other clubs is that when they reach one final in the next few years they reach more. We will be back and are ready to fight again."

Last season's defeat to Bayern may have been deflating but it has not dimmed the ambition. "The ambition is huge," Herrera says. "It is only about winning. You cannot compare 142 years of history (at United) to 50 (at PSG). But the way this club has grown up is unbelievable. In 50 years I don't think there is a comparison in the way it has developed into one of the biggest clubs in Europe."

That includes having some of the biggest names in world football in Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. They are players who have elevated PSG to the top tier, but present their own challenges in the attention they receive on and off the field. It makes the influence of more understated talents such as Herrera - 31 now, but still operating at a formidably high level - more significant.

"We have some big stars," he says. "They need players like me to help them perform at their best. I am so happy to be here and will always be happy as long as I am useful. Not every player can say they are playing with some of the best players in the world and some of the best in history.

"If I say that it's not because I want to be a 'fake humble' it's because I really think that this kind of star needs some players behind them to perform at their best and I think I am one of them. At United, I knew that Paul Pogba was special, (Zlatan) Ibra was special, Wayne Rooney was special, Marcus Rashford was special and I was there to help them and try to make them better."

He believes that United, despite their difficult start to this season, have improved since he left and singles out Rashford, Martial and the "personality" of Bruno Fernandes while he is intrigued as to how Neymar and Mbappe fare against Aaron Wan-Bissaka who he describes as the "best defender in the world one v one".

But there is also a warning. "They are better but United is about titles and if you don't win titles and you are not fighting for the league and fighting for trophies you are going to get criticised," he says. "The only thing I can tell you is that we (PSG) are in a good moment, we had a fantastic season last season and it is not going to be easy for them to beat us."

Paris St-Germain v Manchester Utd, Live, RTÉ 2/BT Sport 2, 8.0