In a news conference on Monday, Manchester United Captain Michael Carrick confirmed what most had been anticipating all along this season- that it will be his last as a player. The midfielder, who moved over to Old Trafford from Tottenham Hotspur in 2006, will hang up his cleats at the end of 2017-18, and will likely join manager Jose Mourinho’s coaching staff next season.
“There comes a time, wether you like it or you don’t like it, that your body tells you it is time to stop playing football. That’s pretty much where I’m at. It’s something that you have got to accept,” the Englishman said.
On the topic of joining Mourinho’s staff he said: “It’s kind of been sorted out, but we’re still talking about it so there is nothing to totally confirm yet. It’s looking likely.”
Carrick underwent a routine procedure for an irregular heart rhythm this past fall, and thus hasn’t been available most of the season. He’s only seen action a handful of times this season, but on the eve of United’s hosting Sevilla with a UEFA Champions League quarterfinal berth at stake, Carrick still maintains that he’ll play a role with the current team before season’s end.
“I had a problem during the Burton game during the second half,” says the only English player other than Wayne Rooney to win the Premier League title, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, League Cup, FA Community Shield, UEFA Europa League and FIFA Club World Cup.
“I had a few tests after that and the same problem came back on the Sunday of that week in training. I had the procedure the following week. It took a little while to get over.”
“There were some times there, two or three days, when I wondered whether I would carry on playing or not, is it worth it or not? But that quickly passed and I got back fit. I wanted to finish on my own terms so I was determined to get back fit.”
“I’ve been training hard and we’ll see what happens for the rest of the season.”
In winning the 2016 FA Cup, Carrick then completed his collection of every domestic honor in Britain.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube.