‘It is not my responsibility. It is not my fault.’
Ryan Giggs departed Manchester United this week with very little fanfare considering that he had given the best part of 30 years of his life to the club.
There was to be no partnership with new manager Jose Mourinho, no role for one of the club’s greatest ever players at Old Trafford in spite of his nearly three decades of service.
There had been suggestions that Mourinho had made no effort to contact Giggs after being appointed manager and this had made up the Welshman’s mind to leave the club.
Speaking on ITV earlier this week Giggs said he left because he wanted to be a manager but also revealed that his immediate future might be in TV punditry.
Jose Mourinho was finally officially unveiled as United’s new manager on Tuesday and denied that he had any responsibility for Giggs’ departure.
JM: "It's not my responsibility that Ryan is not in club. The job Ryan wanted was manager's job. And the club decided that was job for me."
— James Ducker (@TelegraphDucker) July 5, 2016
JM: "Ryan wants to be a manager. He could have had any position. The manager wanted to give him any position in the club." #mufc
— James Ducker (@TelegraphDucker) July 5, 2016
JM: "He (Giggs) was brave. He was honest so good luck to him. If he wants to come back when I'm here,
I will always say yes."— James Ducker (@TelegraphDucker) July 5, 2016
Despite his protests, many will still connect the dots between Mourinho’s arrival and the departure of Giggs.
Whether or not he is ultimately blamed for allowing the Welshman to leave will largely depend on how the two do in the years to come.
Manchester United open their Premier League campaign away to Bournemouth on August 13, but Mourinho’s first competitive game in charge of the Red Devils will be the Community Shield tie with Premier League champions Leicester City on August 7.
