Former Liverpool midfielder Steve McManaman’s hopes of playing football again have been dashed after he revealed a knee injury means he’s unfit to resume playing again.
Steve was in Hong Kong on Tuesday at a press conference for Hong Kong Rangers, where he spoke of the possibility that he could play for them on Thursday in the Senior Challenge Shield against South China. It wasn’t to be though.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post, Macca said: “With the injuries I have got, I don't think I can play. I would have loved to have played in this game. Unfortunately, it can't happen.”
Hong Kong Rangers’ chairman is Carson Yeung Ka-shing, a friend of McManaman. He explained that the player was injured in England and just could not risk playing in this game: “There's always a chance that Steve will return here and play an exhibition match. He really wanted to play but he hurt his knee in training in Liverpool and rather than risk making his injury worse, he should rest."
McManaman played for the Liverpool legends side that faced Celtic recently in Glasgow for Kenny Dalglish’s wife Marina’s charity. He says that game gave him a taste for football again, and that he wants to get back playing again at some point – for fun: “I think so, but not in a professional capacity. I played a couple of months ago for the old Liverpool team. That's something I really enjoyed. Certainly, I will play more games but not in a professional capacity like these young boys. Whether I can play is another thing because you need to do some serious training. It's nice to be a fan rather than a player.”
His move to Real Madrid, one of the first Bosmans, saw him earn a huge contract rather than Liverpool get the money as a transfer fee. He saw the contract out right to the end despite occasional attempts by Real to offload him. He doesn’t really need the money to get playing again, and doesn’t want it to take his life over again: “Life has been very good for me. Football has been very good to me. Football has consumed my life since I was seventeen. Every day you think about football and every day you prepare for the next game. It's nice to step back and travel and see lot's of people. I can see more of my family and spend more time with my wife and young child.”