Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he had to talk Paul Scholes out of retiring at the end of the season.
Scholes had hinted that he may be ready to hang up his boots after being used less frequently by Ferguson this term.
However, Ferguson made it clear to the 35-year-old midfielder that he still had a major role to play in United’s plans, even if his advancing years meant he was no longer as fit as in his youth.
Scholes, who has won nine league titles with United, eventually responded to Ferguson’s pleas by signing a one-year contract extension and he has emerged as a significant force in recent weeks, as his late winner at Manchester City proved last month.
“I did speak to him,” Ferguson told Inside United magazine. “He’d intimated that he may retire at the end of the season. I said, ‘I’ll decide when you retire ... Look, Paul, you can play, there’s no question of that. Your ability’s there, there’s no deterioration in your actual play.’”
“When you get to his age, and the same goes for Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, there’s a deterioration in the physical aspect of it. That’s natural. We all face that. But in terms of his ability, there’s no deterioration whatsoever,” he said.
“In fact, Paul’s every bit as good, if not even better, because the experience he’s added to the ability he’s got means he’s a big asset to us, as he was against City. He helped to control the match,” the Scot said.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Ben Foster has signaled that he will leave United at the end of the season as he seeks to revive a career that has stalled.
The 27-year-old started the season looking poised to establish himself as the No. 1 choice for both club and country.
However, some high-profile mistakes while standing in for injured veteran Dutchman Edwin van der Sar resulted in him being banished to the United reserves and he is now resigned to missing out on the World Cup, with England boss Fabio Capello set to take David James, Robert Green and Joe Hart to South Africa.
“You never want to leave Manchester United. If you leave this club you are only ever going to go down,” Foster said. “But I want to be playing football. I am not interested in just hanging around and I would go if the club wanted to sell me.”
Foster, speaking to the Manchester Evening News, added: “I don’t think there is any chance of South Africa now. If he [Capello] were to pick me it would be very unfair on some of the other goalkeepers.”
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