Manchester United defender Gary Neville admits he thought his Old Trafford career was going to end last season.
The 35-year-old has been dogged by injuries in recent years and, while watching fellow veterans Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs pen new deals, anxiously awaited to offered fresh terms by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Neville eventually put pen-to-paper on a one-year contract in April, but conceded he had been worried about his future prior to that.
He told Football News: “I turned round during training one morning and said ‘I have three games to go at Manchester United’.
“I had not spoken to the club and I genuinely felt it could be the last three weeks. The club didn’t owe me anything and I was more than happy. I was enjoying myself.
“In some ways, my best football came in a period I thought I was just going to enjoy.”
And Neville, who has made 598 appearances for United but is yet to play so far this season due to injury, knows it will be more of the same this season.
He added: “I’m on a one-year contract. If I don’t perform or I feel the club don’t want me anymore I will be gone.
“That is life. In the 19 years I have been here, it has happened to better players.”