Former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini retires from football

Marouane Fellaini arrived at Old Trafford from Everton in August 2013 and went on to score 22 goals in 177 appearances.

Former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini has announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 36. Fellaini became David Moyes' first United signing in a £27.5 million move from Everton on deadline day in 2013. He went on to win the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Europa League during his five-and-a-half years at Old Trafford, scoring 22 goals in 177 appearances.

The former Everton midfielder was criticised for much of his United career but has been given more credit in later years than he did at the time.

Fellaini was mocked for what he represented as much as anything, with United often resorting to him when they ran out of ideas in the closing stages of matches and grew desperate. He was also synonymous with the club's transfer failure, having ended up being United's sole summer signing in a season in which the club finished seventh and Moyes was sacked after just 10 months in charge.

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His best spell of football came when he won three trophies under Jose Mourinho and proved to be an effective option from the bench.

Fellaini only played 31 minutes under United caretaker coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before he was sold to Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng Taishan in a deal worth around £10million back in 2019.

Speaking after his exit, the Belgian insisted he had no regrets about leaving the club after Mourinho had been sacked: "He (Solskjaer) didn’t have a conversation with me if I will play or not. I signed a new contract for two years, one of the best managers in the world wanted me to stay.

"But after that, when a new manager comes and I’m not in his plans, of course it was time for me to leave and I don’t regret it at all."

He was also part of the Belgium side that finished third at the 2018 World Cup, during an international career that saw him score 18 goals in 87 appearances.