Former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini has announced his retirement from football, and now his ex-teammates have reacted.
Signed under David Moyes in the first summer after Sir Alex Ferguson, Marouane Fellaini had a strange relationship with the Manchester United fanbase as he was half cult hero, and half weren’t fans of the football style he represented.
He departed in February 2019 for Chinese Super League side SD Taishan, where he remained until his retirement on February 3rd 2024.
He retires after a very solid career in which he made 87 appearances for Belgium and a whopping 260 Premier League appearances for Everton and United.
Now, his former teammates have been reacting, as the 36-year-old announced his retirement on Instagram.
Former Manchester United players react to Fellaini’s retirement
Taking to his Instagram account, Felliani posted his retirement announcement in which he posted a heartfelt message.
Underneath his post, several of his former United teammates reacted to the news of his retirement.
Club legend David de Gea was one as he wrote: “Enjoy life brother”, followed by a heart emoji.
Jesse Lingard also reacted: “What a guy… enjoy big bro”, this with heart and prayer emojis for the Belgian.
Eric Bailly also commented: “Congratulations on your career my brother”, this with heart emojis and clapping emojis.
Another to react was Ander Herrera who wrote a touching message for his one-time midfield partner: “Congratulations amigo and all the best for your next chapter”.
Lastly, Chicharito commented: “What a career brother!” with a flame emoji.
Fellaini’s Manchester United career stats
Despite being at United for possibly the worst years of the team’s recent history, Fellaini often was the hero even if he didn’t get the credit.
As per Transfermarkt, he made 177 appearances for the Red Devils in which he scored 22 times while also assisting 12 – a decent return for a midfielder.
Among these goals were semi-final strikes in the 2016 FA Cup winning run and also in the 2017 Europa League winning run.
While he may have gotten a lot of stick for his qualities not being what many wanted to see, he was excellent at offering what he did and deserves his flowers as he always gave 100% for the team.