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Manchester United news: Ryan Giggs close to finalising departure after rejecting new coaching role

The 42-year-old is now in the process of securing a pay-off for the final year of his contract

Samuel Lovett
Thursday 30 June 2016 09:34 BST
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Ryan Giggs is now looking ahead to life beyond Manchester United
Ryan Giggs is now looking ahead to life beyond Manchester United

Ryan Giggs has rejected Jose Mourinho’s offer of a reduced coaching role as the Manchester United legend readies himself for a departure from Old Trafford.

Giggs’ representatives are now in negotiations with United to secure a pay-off for the final year of his contract, the Daily Mail reports.

The Welshman’s departure will bring to an end 29 years of association with the club after joining in 1987 on his 14th birthday.

The player-turned-coach won 13 Premier League titles with the club alongside four FA Cups, four League Cups, two Champions League titles and nine Community Shield titles.

He scored 168 goals during his time as a first team player and made a club-record 963 appearances.

But the United legend has allegedly grown increasingly disenfranchised with the club and the direction it has taken in recent years following Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure.

According to the Mail, Giggs was disappointed by Jose Mourinho’s appointment as manager and believed that the club had gone back on its agreement to offer him the position.

Ryan Giggs had served as Louis van Gaal's right-hand man for the past two years

After spending three years on the coaching team under David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, the prospect of being demoted from his role as assistant manager has further heightened Giggs’ disillusionment with the club.

With Mourinho’s right-hand man Rui Faria expected to take the No 2 position, the Portuguese is believed to have offered the 42-year-old a role that would bridge the gap between the youth set-up and the senior team.

Reports suggest that Giggs has yet to speak directly with Mourinho, who starts work at Carrington on Monday, suggesting that the new manager has little appetite to hold on to one of the club’s most decorated players in recent years.

Giggs joined the club as a 14-year-old in 1987 

In light of such a significant demotion, Giggs has been reportedly encouraged by those closest to him to leave the club and begin building a career for himself beyond Old Trafford.

He has already begun exploring new opportunities as demonstrated by his recent decision to join the ITV punditry team at Euro 2016 where’s he expected to start work on Thursday.

The manner of Giggs’ imminent departure from United is expected to anger fans. After the farcical nature of Louis van Gaal’s very public sacking, Ryan Giggs’ treatment over the past couple of months further alludes to the decling standards of the club's business strategies in recent years.

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