The 34-year-old legendry midfielder has been given another one-year term to his glorified career with Manchester United. He has ever been a respectable in United camp and after he retired from international soccer last week, everyone was expecting his retirement from club soccer as well, but on the contrary, new United manager David Moyes, who promised earlier to offer him an extension, finally sanctioned his new contract that will allow him to play for United until summer 2014. Despite his growing age, Ferdinand has been a consistent player for United; perhaps he marked his presence in 34 matches for United this season– more than any other defender. On signing a new extension despite his age, jubilant Ferdinand said, “I am delighted. It has been an incredible journey and I am glad it will continue. Who wouldn’t want to play in this fantastic team in front of 76,000 fans each week? I can now fully concentrate on my club career, which has worked well for me over the past few years. This is a great team to be part of and we are now moving into a new era with the club which is very exciting. I have met with David. I am really looking forward to working with him and winning many more trophies with this great club.”
As far his playing career with United is concerned, he joined them back in July 2002 at an astonishing price tag of £30m, which was the highest at that point of time for a defender. During his eleven-year old stay at Old Trafford, he played around 432 matches and added as many as six Premier League titles, two League Cups, one Champions League, and one FIFA Club World Cup to his name. Before joining United, has had been associated with other clubs like West Ham United and Leeds United and only joined United after reaching a respectable level, in fact he has since been the star midfielder for United.
New United manager David Moyes also issued his statement about his new deal on club’s official website where he said, “It is clear for everyone to see that Rio has had one of his best seasons with the club and I think even from the outside you can see what a big character Rio is around the dressing room so I am delighted he has signed a new contract and I am looking forward to working with him.”