By: Omar Jatta
Former Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic has finally decided to pull the curtain on his illustrious career in football, after leaving Inter Milan his most recent club, following a mutual agreement to terminate his contract on 18 January 2016 as a result of inactivity due to a hernia problem and in the last hours he has announced his retirement from the game.
Vidic was commanding centre half during his 8 stint at Manchester, where he forged a formidable partnership with former United colleague Rio Ferdinand, who also retired at the back end of last season. The pair earned a reputation as one of the must proficient defensive partnership in the Premier league, in recent times.
Veda, as he is called by his United colleagues, moved to the former Premier League champions in January 2006 from Spartak Moscow for a fee around £7 million, after building a reputation as one of the most assertive upcoming defenders around with Red Star Belgrade in the early 2000s, from where moved to Spartak Moscow in the summer of 2004. He was part of the “Famous Four” Serbian national team defence that conceded just one goal during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign.
The 34 year old Serb collected a host of honours in his United career, including three consecutive Premier League titles (five titles in total), the UEFA Champions League, the FIFA World Club Cup, three League Cup medals, as well as being included in three consecutive (four in total) PFA Team of the Year sides from 2007 to 2009. In the 2008–09 season, he helped United to a record-breaking run of 14 consecutive clean sheets and was awarded the Premier League Player of the Season award. He also collected both the club’s Fans’ and Players’ Player of the Year awards that season. The 2010–11 season also marked further personal accolades for Vidic, most notably clinching his second Premier League Player of the Season award. A feat, only Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo had achieved before him.
The former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson eventually handed Vidic the United captaincy at the start of the 2010–11 season following Gary Neville’s retirement, and he remained the skipper for the next three seasons till he called time on his fantastic United career at the end of the 2103-14 season to join Inter Milan
Vidic arrived at the San Siro in 2014 with a great reputation but failed to impress during his debut season in Serie A and went on to drop even further down the pecking order following the return of manager Roberto Mancini to the club. He spent most of this season on the side-lines following hernia surgery in August and there were speculations he was on his way back to the Premier League with Everton and Spurs both showing interest but ultimately the former Serbian International pulled the plug on a phenomenal career.
