‘LEAVING LEFT ME A MESS’
DAVID MAY has warned Harry Maguire that “leaving Manchester United can tear you apart”.
The end of May’s United days were plagued by a serious Achilles injury as well as competition for places with Ronny Johnsen, Wes Brown, John O’Shea, Mikael Silvestre and the 2002 arrival of Rio Ferdinand.
After nine years at the club and 85 games under Sir Alex Ferguson (below), May found leaving a shattering experience and it affected his mental health.
May said: “If Harry Maguire decides to leave, it will be different to me because he’s got plenty of football left in him.
“When I left United, I remember driving away from Carrington and I got emotional. I thought, ‘That’s it, what do I do now?’ I just thought, ‘That’s me done’. I filled up.
“We’d just won the title and, after the final game against Everton, all the lads went out in Manchester. I needed to go to bed, so I got a bottle of £200 Krug champagne and walked to my apartment which was nearby.
“This tramp was on a bench in the gardens near my flat, so I walked over and started chatting.
“It must have been 1am and we started chatting and drinking the champagne. I left him with the rest of the bottle and went home.
“That was the start of a 12-day bender on my own in the apartment until the 13th day when I realised it couldn’t go on.”
Maguire can still have a big future away from United, with Erik ten Hag believed to have turned down more than one request to take the defender on loan in January.
And May added: “Harry can still play a big part in helping United achieve their top-four goal and win another cup this season.
“But I’m sure he wants more than just playing 25 games a season at United when he could be a regular at another club.
“That’s a conversation I’m sure he’ll have already had with his people and maybe one he’ll have with Ten Hag as well at the end of the season.
“But leaving won’t be easy. When the time comes to make that decision, it’ll be really tough.
“I’ve been there. Walking away from United can be brutal.”