'I've had plenty of injuries in my time, but by far the worst was in my head' - Tom Thorpe on making it at Manchester United and why he quit for five years

There has been a lot of speculation about what happened to Tom Thorpe.

He was one of the brightest talents in the club's academy and the respected captain of a successful youth side that included the likes of Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard.

He was on Sir Alex Ferguson's radar and looked destined to go on to play regularly for the club. He could have, but he didn't.

Thorpe went off the radar; he quit playing football altogether for five years before returning to action earlier this year. Why?

It is finally time to set the record straight.

"There was a time when I thought I'd never... well, I didn't want to play again," Thorpe tells the Manchester Evening News as we sit down on a rainy afternoon in Macclesfield.

Our chat comes just four days after the Silkmen lifted the Northern Premier League - West title at the first attempt. They are the biggest club by quite a distance at this level, and the perfect project to tempt the former United youngster back into football.

It has been quite a journey for the 30-year-old to get to this stage. He has experienced the highs and lows of professional football. A boyhood United fan who captained his side to two league titles and a Youth Cup victory. He was capped by England at every age level from Under-16s to Under-21s and was part of the side that won the European U17 Championship back in 2010.

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But he also knows all about the other, ugly, side of the game. The harsh reality of a ruthless business in which players are little more than assets to the club and often left to fend for themselves.

"I was obviously a huge United fan. It was a dream. You