Manchester United fans on a train from London to Manchester before the recent Leicester City game were surprised to see Darren Fletcher occupying the seats they had reserved.
They assumed the Scotland captain was returning to Manchester having signed for West Ham United as per the stories in the media, which said the midfielder had accepted a three-year contract with the London side.
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce had been chasing Fletcher and appeared to have beaten off competition from Valencia and West Bromwich Albion.
Fletcher moved from the seats and assured the fans he would not be signing for West Ham.
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There were no elements of doubt in his voice, and with only two days of the transfer window remaining, it seemed he would be back at United, the club where he had spent the majority of his life.
He was popular with fans and teammates and had come back from serious illness, which saw him barely play between November 2011 and December 2013, to play Premier League football.
Despite being named second captain by Louis van Gaal in July, his opportunities were limited.
With Fletcher wanting to play football, he reluctantly began to consider life away from Old Trafford.
He would have played in Spain, but West Ham made the best offer and United let the Scot travel to London for a medical.
West Ham changed their mind and tried to switch a three-year deal to a loan offer. Unsurprisingly, Fletcher was not pleased and was back in Manchester for his 31st birthday on February 1.
On Saturday he will watch West Ham, but not as a Manchester United player. He will watch as West Bromwich Albion’s new captain.
The West Brom manager, Tony Pulis, made a late offer of a two-and-a-half-year deal with an option for a further year as the transfer window was about to close.
After 342 games in 12 first-team years at United, he will bring experience, leadership and technical excellence to the side taken on at the start of the year by Pulis, who immediately made his new signing captain.
Fletcher has played 90 minutes in their past two games, a 2-2 draw at Burnley and a 2-0 home win against Swansea City on Wednesday, the latter arguably the side’s best performance of the season.
The 180 minutes of football in four days was more than his entire league total in the previous four months at United.
The one full United game he did play in that time was an FA Cup tie at Yeovil last month, which means he is cup-tied for today’s game at the Hawthorns.
He will appreciate the rest ahead of his next match, a meeting with fellow strugglers Sunderland next weekend.
West Brom were 17th when they played West Ham away on New Year’s Day. Rob Kelly was caretaker manager after Alan Irvine had been dismissed the previous week with his side sliding towards the relegation zone.
West Brom had been 10th after six matches, but two wins in 13 league games saw Irvine sacked.
Pulis took charge and results improved quickly, with two wins and two draws in his five league games moving his side to 14th.
They also won their two FA Cup games against Gateshead and Birmingham City. While Premier league survival is the priority and the reason Fletcher was brought in, they hope for a cup run similar to 2008, when they reached the semi-finals.
Fletcher will be a bystander for any cup run, but he will feature heavily in the league and get the minutes he craved at United.
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