“For years I’d go into games thinking, ‘I shouldn’t really be playing,’ and players would look at me, see the swelling and be thinking, ‘He’s playing here?’ But I love playing and I’ll do anything for United,” he told The Times in an emotional interview back in 2021. “If I have to play at 60% and know I can get through it, then why not?
“I’d lost my mind completely. I’m thinking, ‘I’m finished, can’t be bothered with all this any more’. I went straight to the doc and said, ‘Enough’s enough. I’ve had too many anti-inflammatories, too many injections, too many close shaves. I need this sorted’.
“It was the lowest I’ve ever been as a human being. I used to come back [from United’s training ground] and be in bits. My head was an absolute mess. I’d be in tears.
“Every footballer has a tag and unfortunately mine is, ‘Let’s have a laugh at him’. But – and I say this in the nicest possible way – I know who’ll have the last laugh. I’m proud of my career and when it finishes and I’m enjoying my life – and by the way I’m super fortunate that I’ll be able to do that, because footballers are fortunate – [the keyboard warriors] will still be in their mum’s spare bedroom, sipping Diet Pepsi that’s flat, eating a Pot Noodle, sitting in their boxers, tweeting.”
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