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Giggs: Don't retire No. 11

Cape Town - Ryan Giggs does not want his lifelong club, Manchester United, to consider retiring the jersey number he made famous.

Giggs’ stance was reiterated by the club’s official website, where he confirmed that he wanted the number 11 shirt to be made available to future stars.

The most famous number 11 Red Devil then went on to joke about the pressure the future incumbent might have.

"They're under pressure, aren't they?!" he joked, before adding: "I look forward to seeing who takes it and wish them all the best."

Giggs took on the jersey when shirts were only numbered from one to 11 with 11 reserved for the left winger. He decided to stay with the jersey even when the increased squad numbers became available.

When asked by MUTV if the club, where he now is the assistant boss, should retire his number, Giggs’ responded in the negative and said that it should only be done in the few really special cases. He added that he didn’t want United to constantly churn over the great players that no longer play.

Retiring a jersey is not unusual in the modern game, Cologne have done so for Lukas Podolski while AC Milan retired the number as worn by Paolo Maldini. In the English game, West Ham paid tribute to Bobby Moore by retiring his number. 

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