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Roy Keane to quit at end of next season Roy Keane will quit football when his contract with Manchester United expires at the end of next season.
The Irish midfielder is playing some of the best football of a trophy-rich career and there had been speculation that he might be persuaded to carry on beyond 2006.
But Keane, who fears he might need hip replacement surgery once his playing days are over, insisted that he had no plans to extend his current contract.
"I feel good," the 33-year-old said. "My hip feels good, my left knee was a bit sore but overall I am not too bad. Mentally I am enjoying my football.
"But when I signed my current contract I believed it would be last playing contract and I still believe that to be the case."
If Keane does retire in 2006, his swansong could come at the World Cup in Germany.
Ireland are well-placed to qualify for the finals and Keane has unfinished business with his country after walking out on Mick McCarthy's squad prior to the last World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
United manager Alex Ferguson is bound to greet the news with a sense of disappointment, although the canny Scot will not have totally given up hope of losing his talisman, who has confounded the critics who had written him off before the season started.
Over the past month alone, Keane has rampaged over heir apparent Steven Gerrard at Anfield, and squared up to Patrick Vieira in the Highbury tunnel in show of aggressive force that set the tone for Manchester United's superb 4-2 win.
He then capped an exceptional display against Birmingham last week by netting his 50th goal for the Red Devils.
Such has been the magnitude of those performances, suggestions were being raised that Keane would be offered a new contract.
However, the Republic of Ireland international has revealed he is not looking to extend his stay at Old Trafford beyond 2006, meaning he could end his career at the World Cup, four years after he memorably walked out on the last one.
After being forced to overcome a major hip operation and cruciate knee ligament surgery, Keane may count himself fortunate to be playing at all, let alone the standard he is currently reaching.
Typically though, the Cork-born star is not entirely satisfied with his contribution, although he did admit the balance between playing matches and rest is better this season than it was 12 months ago, when he became frustrated at the number of games he was missing.
"I feel I'm doing OK but you always feel there is room for improvement," he said. "I prefer to look back at the end of the season, not when you've got three months to go but I do feel good in myself.
"We have probably got the balance right this year on the medical side of things.
"We have a big squad, so it's only right I miss the odd game here and there but I have felt fresh and physically good in the ones I have played in."
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