Eric Bailly says he is "really excited" to be back in first-team action for Manchester United.
The Ivory Coast international made his first appearance of the season against Chelsea last month, and has since turned out twice more for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side.
“For me it was very important [to sign a new contract]," he told United's official website ahead of Sunday's clash with Manchester City.
“At a time when I was suffering a little bit and struggling with my injury, the club showed great confidence, enough to extend my contract, and it gives me a real feeling of prestige to be able to continue being part of this squad and this club.
“The feeling then is that I want to pay back that faith and confidence they’ve shown in me and being part of something here.
“You want to make up for every second that you’ve missed, so now I’m fully fit, I feel 100% in myself, I’m really excited to be back part of things again and do what I do."
United are currently on an eight-match unbeaten run, with January signings Bruno Fernandes and Odion Ighalo having each played a part in the club's positive run of form.
“I think it’s always important to welcome new players into the fold to keep progressing the team,” the centre-back added.
“Back in the summer we managed to get Harry [Maguire], Aaron [Wan-Bissaka] and Daniel [James] in, who’ve really been a big part of things from the word go and they’ve really added to the squad.
“You always want to have quality signings coming in and I think the signings we’ve added during the January transfer window have been really positive as well.
“The quality they have added is great. We’ve seen in training so far that they’ve added to the squad.
“Odion is a very experienced player with Premier League experience from Watford, so that’s adding good know-how to our attack.
“Bruno is a real talent, a pure talent. He was voted the best player in the Portuguese league in previous seasons and we’ve seen already the quality he’s brought.
“Even though he’s not used to the Premier League we’ve already seen his quality and what he can do. They’ll just want to give their very best to the squad to help push us forward.”
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