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Rio Ferdinand leaves Manchester United

By on May 12, 2014

Manchester United are going through another period of change.  At the end of last season, manager Sir Alex Ferguson retired and David Moyes replaced him, and now, an even bigger period of change has been undertook.  Moyes was replaced by interim manager Ryan Giggs, who himself all but ended his playing career in the process, Louis Van Gaal is rumored to take charge from Giggs, and captain Nemanja Vidic is heading off to Italy this summer. The senior squad players, Michael Carrick, Patrice Evra and Darren Fletcher are all being cycled out of the starting eleven, but it has still been quite unexpected as news broke of the departure of Rio Ferdinand, who has been at Old Trafford for the past dozen years.

Although Ferdinand wrote on his website that the decision to leave was his, it is understood that that was in fact not the case as, having been troubled by injuries and finding increasingly less playing time, United refused to extend his expiring contract.  The United legend has only made fourteen league appearances this season, only half that of the amount of Premier League appearances he made last season.  And while he claimed he had hoped to continue his United career past this season, the club have forced his playing career to end on a bitter note.  The league season which has just ended last weekend was United’s worst ever since the inception of the Premier League, and while Ferdinand has won six league titles and nine other major trophies, including the Champions League title, as a Red Devil his final season for the club has been trophy-less.

However, Ferdinand singalned the fact that he wishes

“I have thought long and hard over the last few months about my future and after 12 fantastic years playing for what I regard as the best club in the world I have decided the time is right for me to move on,” he said.

“I joined Manchester United in the hope of winning trophies and never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined how successful we would be during my time here.

“There have been so many highlights, playing alongside some great players who have become good friends, winning my first Premier League title and also that fantastic night in Moscow are memories that I will cherish forever.

He added: “Circumstances didn’t allow for me to say goodbye the way I would have liked but I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my team-mates, staff, the club and the fans for an unbelievable 12 years that I’ll never forget.

“Winning trophies I dreamed about as a kid came true at this great club. I am feeling fit and healthy, ready for a new challenge and looking forward to whatever the future holds for me.”

If Ferdinand were to retire, though, a job in football commentating could be in the offing – the player has already become a prolific public figure via his pretense on his official Twitter account. The former Leeds United player has already retired from international football, though, after winning eighty-one international caps for England and appearing at three World Cups, another landmark Ferdinand has reached during his fantastic career spanning three decades. And who knows, there still could be more to come from the defender.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.