Come on in and join the club! Get our daily Manchester United email newsletter Sign me up! Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Rio Ferdinand has confessed Manchester United has become the love of his life.

United defender Ferdinand admits that he could never have imagined spending more than a decade with the Old Trafford giants after joining them in 2002.

But the 34-year-old, who has his testimonial against Sevilla on Friday, says he is determined to cherish every moment and carry on playing for as long as possible after “falling in love with winning.”

Ferdinand has signed a new one-year contract which includes the option of a further 12 months and says he is enjoying his football now more than ever.

“For as long as my body allows me to, I’ll keep playing; and for as long as I can stay at Manchester United then I will stay there,” he said.

“When I looked at pictures as I looked towards the testimonial, it evoked old memories and has relit those fires a little bit in terms of being able to win things, get those emotions back.

“Whether I can do it, we’ll have to wait and see. But it does definitely light fires within you that you want to continue, I’ve still got that burning passion to want to achieve and win things.

“I could see myself at a club for ten years which wasn’t as big and as prestigious as Manchester United. But to do it at Manchester United is just crazy to think about. I never believed it, I never even thought about it, if I’m honest.

“I thought I would be at United for a couple of years, maybe three or four, and then go abroad somewhere. But I just fell in love with Manchester United. I fell in love with winning, fell in love with the history of the club and being part of it was something I could never have imagined.

“The pull of staying at Manchester United and being part of the success has probably got stronger as the years have gone by.

(Image: Christopher Furlong)

“My ambition now is just to keep playing. I want to keep playing for as long as possible. For the past two seasons I think I’ve been available for 90 per cent of the games and I want to maintain that, and add silverware.

“When you get older, you appreciate it a bit more. You realise that the tunnel is coming to an end. Even driving into Carrington every morning, you feel yourself looking around and thinking, ‘I don’t know how long this will go on for.’

“The quality of the surroundings that you’re in at the training ground and Old Trafford, you look around and you take things in a bit more.

“Hopefully, I can do it for a couple more years.”

Ferdinand, who has won six Premier League titles, two League Cups, the European Cup and Club World Cup at United, reveals there's one burning ambition as he approaches a new season under a new manager.

United have reached the European Cup Final three times in four years but only won it once, and Ferdinand admits he would dearly love to improve on that.

“I don’t ever set out to win a particular trophy at the start of each season,” said Ferdinand. “We go into four or five competitions and I want to win as many of them as I can. Which one I don’t care as long as I’ve got silverware at the end of the season I’m happy.

“There is a tier to it, obviously. You’d rather win the Premier League or Champions League. But they all count and that’s the way I look at it.

“We’ve been in three Champions League finals in four years and to only win one of them is disappointing. We never gave a good account of ourselves in the two games against Barcelona and that rankles with me all of the time.

“When you see highlights - and you see them all the time - it leaves you thinking, ‘If only we’d played to our maximum, then I might have had another winner’s medal.’

“I still look back and think I have been fortunate to win some trophies but I think there’s more time left and we can win a few more things yet.”

New United boss Moyes inherits a title-winning team, but taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson is a tough ask - especially with the hardest start to a league campaign Ferdinand can remember.

The champions kick off on the opening day at League Cup winners Swansea, and also face Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City all within their opening five games.

It could not be any harder for Moyes, but Ferdinand views it as a positive.

He added: “It’s a tough start. Swansea away is never easy. Then I think we’ve got four of the top six of last season in our first six games. It’s a tough start but you have to play them sometime.

“We have to got to do what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to make sure we’re at it from the start which has sometimes been hard for us.

(Image: Mirrorpix)

“But it means you have to focus for the start of the season. Make sure you’re on your mettle straight away. Sometimes I think you start thinking you can get away with a couple of results at the start of the season because we’re not at our best yet.

“But not this time. We’ve got to hit the ground running. Make sure we’re ready from the off against big teams who will be there or thereabouts with us through the season.

“The new manager is coming into a championship-winning team.

“There’s no better time to come in. Whoever came in would have to fill big shoes. But the manager we’ve got now was at Everton and he built something that I respected.

“They were a hard working team, strong team, hard to play against. If we can add some of the elements from his own team into ours then we’re going to be a force.

“It’s the perfect time for him. We went away on tour, had a long time together, he got to know us a bit, we got to know him a bit and learn about his methods and the way he does things. I’m sure we’ll keep learning through the season about it.

“I think the lads have really enjoyed it. From what I’ve seen on tour and heard about in training, there’s been a real zest in training. That eagerness to want to be in his team.”

* VETERAN Rio Ferdinand says Manchester United's young breed can usher in a new era of success for David Moyes.

Moyes singled out Wilfried Zaha, Jesse Lingard and Adnan Januzaj for special praise during the club's pre-season tour.

Ferdinand said: "Zaha was really good. He's a new signing and he was one of the better players on tour for us.

"The best players were the young lads: Wilf, Jesse Lingard and Adnan was silky - he set up a great goal in one of the Japanese games.

"Jesse was top scorer on the tour and from left midfield shows what a quality player he is. They were three plus points on the tour and hopefully this season we'll see some more of them.

(Image: Atsushi Tomura)

"The manager would have assessed the squad before, been aware of them as the two boys were here already but Wilf had just arrived.

"The two lads trained with us last season, Jesse came on tour with us last year so we were more than aware how good the players are."

* FORMER England star Rio Ferdinand insists the FA must learn lessons from recent failures to ensure the next Golden Generation is not wasted.

Ferdinand was part of England's best group of players for years but they fell short at major tournaments which is one of the biggest regrets of his career.

Manchester United defender Ferdinand has been outspoken and critical on the FA's coaching standards - and fears it may be TEN YEARS before England sees any improvement.

(Image: Getty)

Ferdinand said: "We do need to look at coaching in the game. The FA are looking at it and, for obvious reasons, from the last couple of tournaments and the Under-21s, has needed to be looked at.

"Even in the time of my career, it's something we've needed to look at. I hope we will see the benefits of that in the next five or 10 years.

"I don't think we're seeing benefits yet. But i hope things are being put in place now to bear fruits in the coming five to 10 years."

Rio Ferdinand's new book, My Decade As A Red, is out now, priced £20.