Darren Fletcher has revealed he took advice from Sir Alex Ferguson before making the decision to leave Manchester United.
The West Brom midfielder asked his former boss at Old Trafford for guidance as he weighed up moves to the Baggies and West Ham. A switch to the Hammers fell through and so he completed a free transfer to The Hawthorns on Monday after 340 games at United since making his debut in 2003.
Fletcher is in line for his Baggies bow at Burnley on Sunday and admitted that legendary United boss Ferguson's help was invaluable.
"Yes, I spoke to him, why wouldn't you? When I was making my decision, I bounced a few things off him,'' said the 31-year-old, who won five Premier League titles under Ferguson.
"When someone has been such an influence on you and has given you great advice on and off the pitch all through your career you have to use these people. We had a fantastic chat and I know he has great relationship with Tony Pulis, s he has with lots of managers throughout the league."
"He didn't necessarily recommend Albion but we spoke about the pros and cons of different clubs around country and he couldn't speak highly enough of Albion," Fletcher continued. "I've spoken before about him in these situations, not only from a football point of view but a personal point of view and how he cared for me more in that situation than actual football side of things and that speak volumes about him."
Fletcher said current Old Trafford chief Louis van Gaal did not want him to leave but the Scotland international knows he had to move for the good of his career.
"When you don't play for a number of weeks you start thinking about it and I spoke with the manager, he didn't really want me to leave but he respected my decision and did everything he could to help me," he said, after just five starts this term.
"I have to thank him for that. Edward [Woodward, Man United club chairman] and the club have been fantastic, they have cared for my wishes and I can't speak highly enough of both of them. I wish that club all the success but for me my focus now is on West Brom."
Baggies boss Pulis also admitted he tried to sign Fletcher at Crystal Palace last year and had spoken to Ferguson about him.
Pulis added: "I actually asked Sir Alex about Darren when I was at Crystal Palace. He said he was first class. I was working on it."