Rio Ferdinand reveals one big regret from Manchester United career after Sir Alex Ferguson left

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has admitted he wishes he hadn’t joined QPR and retired at Old Trafford.

Ferdinand is one of the most decorated English footballers of all time and arguably one of the best centre-backs of all time, winning six Premier League titles under Sir Alex Ferguson after 12 years at the club.

However, when the legendary Scot retired in 2013, problems hit United, who have not won a league title since, while Ferdinand decided to leave a year later for QPR.

But speaking on Sky Bet’s Stick To Football podcast, Ferdinand admitted he regretted joining the free-spending London club under owner Tony Fernandes at the time, and wished he had hung up his boots at Old Trafford.

“I would have liked to finish my career at Manchester United rather than move to QPR,” he told Gary Neville, Jill Scott, Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher and Ian Wright.

“Because it was the first time I was in a locker room where people were talking about money and salary.

“We heard whispers of players talking about it and I thought it was crazy.

“We had players who didn’t want to train because they had a certain amount of money, the intensity wasn’t that high, and no matter what Harry Redknapp tried to do, the players didn’t believe it, and that team ended up getting relegated.”

QPR finished 20th and were sent to the Championship while Ferdinand only made 11 Premier League appearances, with injuries beginning to hit him in the final days of his career.

The former England international had signed for the Loftus Road side at the age of 35, but retired a year later due to injuries, QPR were relegated and tragedy struck at home.

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Ferdinand’s wife, Rebecca Ellison, passed away in May 2015 after battling breast cancer.

He added: “I used to travel with Bobby Zamora because we lived in the same area, and I had been at QPR for about a month, and I remember one day in the car he started to laugh for no reason.

“When he stopped he asked me why I was at QPR because he could see my body was shutting down, I was getting injured, having to put myself in casts during matches and manage myself during training sessions .

“For me, I wanted to have one last season, to play in London, at home, my children were at an age where they understood football a lot better, and then my wife got sick at that time and that made everything worse .”

Since retiring from football, Ferdinand has become a successful pundit working for the BBC, ITV and now TNT Sports, while also owning his own successful YouTube channel FIVE.