Footballers often say their bodies tell them when it’s time to retire, but former Arsenal and Manchester United players are among a select group whose bodies were wrong.
In a game in which pace and power have become increasingly important, it’s becoming harder and harder for players to continue competing at the top level heading into their mid-30s.
Some legends of the game have gone on a fair bit longer, however – and this lot hung up their boots only to realise they have still got it, after all.
Paul Scholes
On January 8, 2012, more than six months after announcing his retirement, Scholes was named on the bench for the Manchester derby.
Not even his team-mates knew he was returning before they got into the dressing room that day, never mind the shocked United fans – and media – inside the stadium.
Scholes ended up making 21 appearances in the second half of the season and then stayed on for another year as United won back the Premier League title before Sir Alex Ferguson and Scholes – for good this time – called it a day.
MUST WATCH: Paul Scholes honest, disarmed, reflective…fascinating. The story of how one of our greats made his comeback…enjoy. pic.twitter.com/Tp7GElsPss
— Jake Humphrey (@mrjakehumphrey) February 17, 2018
Jens Lehmann
Having left Arsenal in 2008, Lehmann called it a day in 2010 but returned a year later when three of Arsene Wenger’s goalkeepers were out injured.
Lehmann put aside his feud with Manuel Almunia to sign as back-up, but after the Spaniard was injured in the warm-up ahead of a clash with Blackpool, the 42-year-old stepped in and played his part in a 3-1 win.
Johan Cruyff
Following his initial retirement in 1978, Cruyff cited financial reasons for his prompt return to football with Los Angeles Aztecs, having reportedly been scammed in Spain with false investments.
“I had lost millions in pig farming and that was the reason I decided to become a footballer again,” he said at the time, going on to play for six further years, including a successful return to Holland with boyhood club Ajax and Feyenoord.
READ: Remembering Johan Cruyff’s brilliant but bizarre American Dream
Robbie Rogers
Having been released by Leeds aged 25, Rogers chose to retire from the game, and in doing so came out as gay.
Stating he felt like a coward for not “stepping up to the plate”, he signed for LA Galaxy just a few months later and became the first openly gay athlete to play in a top American professional…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…