Dry your eyes, football fans. Martin Demichelis' time as a professional footballer is no more.
The once ponytailed Argentine defender has called time on his playing days, five months after agreeing a short-term deal with La Liga side, Malaga.
Having started his career with River Plate in his native Argentina, the defender spent seven years in Germany with Bayern Munich. Two years with Malaga followed this and, after a short stint with Atletico Madrid, he moved to Manchester City in 2013.
Demichelis left England for Espanyol last summer, but only lasted half a season with the Barcelona club before returning to Malaga.
“I want to be honest, I lost the strength in my legs and my concentration," he explained when announcing his decision.
But of course, Manchester United fans could've probably told him that a while back. 14 months ago, to be precise. As news of his retirement filtered through to them on social media, there they were, queuing up to remind him of the day his career was, in their eyes at least, *really* ended.
That day was March Sunday, March 20, 2016. The day that Marcus Rashford's solitary strike was enough for United to win the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium. Receiving a pass from Juan Mata, the then-18-year-old had little trouble shimmying past Demichelis, leaving him in a crumpled heap on the edge of the box as he skipped away to slot the ball past Joe Hart.
Unsurprisingly, this was how news of his retirement was met by United fans...
https://twitter.com/darrenmccullins/status/864096067696164864
https://twitter.com/CIassyRooney/status/864088158627139584
https://twitter.com/waltersobchak01/status/864084861606383617
https://twitter.com/YorkshireJirkby/status/864082318042025984
https://twitter.com/TheManUtdWay/status/864079006450241536
We could go on, but by now, you probably get the idea...
