Man Utd goalkeeper who retired at 23 told he would "struggle to walk" by specialists

Manchester United goalkeeper Paul Woolston has opened on his decision to retire last month - and has revealed that he was told that he would "struggle to walk" if he continued playing by specialists.

Woolston was snapped up United back in 2018 after impressing at Newcastle and Sunderland in his youth. The talented shot-stopper played alongside Trent Alexander-Arnold for England at the Under-17 World Cup and was a regular for United's U23s in the Premier League 2, but he revealed just a couple of weeks ago that he was hanging up his gloves due to a hip injury.

The 23-year-old underwent two operations and a lengthy rehabilitation period in a bid to resume his playing career, which had been halted after he felt "a minor twinge" in his hip. But 14 months on from that initial issue, Woolston was faced with a major life decision after a harrowing conversation with specialists.

Woolston opened up on his retirement in an interview with BBC Sport, where he revealed that his decision was driven by concerns over how his quality of life could be affected if he attempted to play on through the pain barrier in a bid to make a return. And he admitted that being told such devastating news was utterly surreal.

He said: "I completely zoned out. Is he talking about me? Is this real? Surely this is wrong? It can't be me. It can't be right. The advice of the specialists was if I continued for another two years, my way of life would be totally different, that I would struggle to walk. It would be a full hip replacement at the age of 25. From there it is a long road. It was simple things like, if I am lucky to have kids in the future, I didn't want to say: 'Sorry, I can't do it because I have ruined my hip.'"

Despite enduring such an