Ryan Giggs has said Louis van Gaal told him he was retired as a player upon taking charge at Manchester United but added in his Daily Telegraph column: "As soon as he said so, it felt right."
Giggs announced his retirement as a player in May 2014 at the age of 40 after becoming the most decorated player in United's history.
He became Van Gaal's assistant after retiring and told the Telegraph his retirement had been down to the former Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Netherlands coach.
"When I first met Louis we got talking and he asked me to be his assistant after just 30 minutes of conversation," he wrote.