Ex-Tottenham star opens up on why he left Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur have said goodbye to some world class talent over the years, including the likes of Gareth Bale and Luka Modric.

Perhaps one of the most talented English departures over the past decade or so was Michael Carrick back in 2006.

The 37-year old retired at the end of last season and now sits next to Jose Mourinho in the United dugout as assistant manager.

Carrick won five Premier League titles, one FA Cup, a Champions League trophy, a Europa League title and three League Cups during his time at United.

He has now finally revealed why he left Tottenham 12 years ago at the age of 25.

Things have changed dramatically for Tottenham over the past 12 years, but back in 2006 Spurs were not realistic challengers for many trophies.

Carrick explained how he never felt like he would win much in a Lilywhite shirt, which changed once he made the move to United.

He told ESPN:  “Not really until I came to United that I thought about winning things. The 2006 World Cup was the summer I came to United so the England thing was kind of ongoing.

“Getting to the World Cup was massive but it wasn’t until I got to United that I had that feeling that winning was a possibility.

“At Tottenham we might have had a good cup run but we weren’t actually thinking ‘we can win this’. It was about how far we could go or ‘could we get into the Champions League?’

“That changed dramatically for me when I came to Old Trafford and seeing what was kind of expected here and the approach of the lads and the manager. It was just a different level completely.”

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