Owen Hargreaves admits he is 'glad' Bayern Munich finally agreed to accept an offer from Manchester United.
The England midfielder was presented as a United player on Monday after the Premier League champions spent 12 months pursuing his signature.
United stumped up £17million to sign Hargreaves, who is thankful Bayern eventually allowed him to leave the Allianz Arena.
"I think it was a rather long transfer situation," said Hargreaves at his press conference on Sky Sports News.
"A club like Bayern Munich are not accustomed to selling players. In the past big players like Michael Ballack and Ze Roberto left on a free and it doesn't happen at a lot of clubs in Europe.
"At first they didn't want to sell me, but I made it clear, my intentions, and I'm glad they accepted this summer and it went through with the transfer I asked them to do."
Hargreaves also outlined the qualities he expects to provide his new club, adding: "I think the squad has so many fantastic players and I am just a piece of a puzzle really.
"I think every player brings his own qualities and obviously mine are in the defensive midfield area.
"Hopefully I can win some tackles, keep a clean sheet for the back four and give them some protection, and get the ball to the fantastic offensive players we have."
On comparisons to former United captain Roy Keane, Hargreaves said: "I think he's one of the legends of this club.
"That's one of the things United have, such a fabulous history of players, not only in midfield.
"To be part of this kind of club is a dream come true and I'm looking forward to making a name for myself, and I'm not trying to emulate anyone in particular."