Veteran Manchester United and England midfielder Michael Carrick has surprisingly admitted that he would like to take up a career in Formula One, once his football days were over.
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The 34-year-old has had somewhat of a renaissance in his career under Dutchman Louis van Gaal as the Red Devils have worked their way up to retaining their Champions League status.
While the midfielder, who has been one of Manchester United’s star men in the rise back up the Premier League, has no plans to hang his boots up any time in the near future, when he does he would like to try his hand behind the wheel of an F1 car.
Quoted in The Daily Mail he said, “I wouldn’t swap football for anything… except maybe to be an F1 driver. I’d love to have a go. I love the sport, I’m a massive fan. I’ve done a few track days and enjoyed that, but there’s nothing like going to watch F1. I’m hooked on it.”
The former Tottenham and West Ham player does appreciate how he needs to adapt as he gets older, “Football is work and it’s a lot more than that too. But it’s about getting balance in your life as you get older.’
“At 33 or 34, that’s when you’re not sure how your body is going to react. Living right and trying to look after myself gives me a better chance. I feel as good and as a fit as I ever have.
“I’m not saying I can last as long as Giggsy. Not many people, if anyone, can do what he did. But I tried to learn off Giggsy, Scholesy and Gaz Nev.”
Carrick started his career in east London, at Upton Park, and believes that the decision to move away from the family home in the north east down to London at the age of 15 was a huge challenge he has overcome.
“Moving to London at 15 was a struggle, but the best thing I ever did. The first three or four months were tough,” he said.
The England international continued, “
The football was great, but when you were going back [to where you were staying] you didn’t have someone there. You didn’t have a mobile phone back then, it was a case of going to the phone box [to call home].
‘Things like that now you take for granted but then it was a big deal. But it helped me grow. It shaped me a lot faster than if I’d stayed in Newcastle and been pampered.”