Paul Scholes is happy for his retirement to slip under the radar on the day when Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson also bade farewell to Old Trafford.
United midfielder Scholes announced his retirement for a second time yesterday, having resumed his career in January 2012 after initially quitting the game at the end of the 2010-11 season.
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United’s Paul Scholes acknowledges the crowd yesterday. PIC/AFP
He is notoriously media-shy and he joked that the news surrounding Ferguson’s retirement after more than 26 years in charge at United — plus continued speculation about Wayne Rooney’s future, had given him the opportunity to slip away quietly.
“It couldn’t be any better could it?” Scholes said.u00a0“(The speculation of) Wayne Rooney asking for a transfer — there’s not much else that can go well for me.
“Yeah, it’s the perfect weekend for me. (My) last game and I will just slip under the radar and off I go.”
The 38-year-old made his 717th Manchester United appearance against Swansea yesterday after making his debut on September 21, 1994 in a League Cup game against Port Vale. Scholes revealed there will be no changing his mind about retirement this time.
“I think this is it. I’m sure this is it,” Scholes told Sky Sports. “It’s probably not the season I would have liked to go out on but the last four months have been quite difficult with injury, with my knee and trying to get back fit again.
“I’m totally convinced. I was convinced last time to be honest with you. At the time you are but I know now in my head that I have gone as far as I possibly can physically.
“This is the end. Again.”u00a0Scholes has made only a handful of appearances this year after he suffered a knee injury in January and he last played in the Premier League in December last year.
Scholes is unsure what the future holds for him, following Ferguson’s departure from Old Trafford. “The manager wanted me to be on the coaching side but it’s going to be a different manager. I don’t know what the new manager will want,” he said.u00a0
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