Lengend Peter Schmeichel reveals his biggest Man Utd regret

Peter Schmeichel admits he regrets leaving Manchester United in the summer of 1999 and insists he could have had 'many more years' in goal at the club.

The Danish icon played a pivotal role during the Treble victory in his final season and is widely regarded as one of Sir Alex Ferguson's greatest ever bargain buys.

Schmeichel's final game for United saw him captain the club as they defeated Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, before he left to join Sporting Lisbon.

Solitary seasons at Aston Villa and Man City both followed for the goalkeeper before he eventually retired from the game back in 2003.

Schmeichel will always be remembered for his heroics at United, but he admits he should have enjoyed even more time than his eight years at the club.

“It's over 20 years ago now and during that period of time you go through a lot of phases,” he told talkSPORT.

“First of all I went through retirement from football, then it was nice not to go in for a while and before you know you start to miss it all a bit.

“As you become further and further away from football your thinking process becomes better.

“I could have possibly played on for many more years [at Manchester United] had I cut back a little bit on the pride and spoken to the manager about it – but I didn't. I was too proud of my position at the club.

“When you get to your mid-50s you look back and have a better understanding of things.

“That was a young man's head making that decision, I admit I probably should have held out. It's not a regret as such, but it is a regret at the same time if you get what I mean.

“I loved the football club so much, why would I want to leave? But I was so worn out at the time so it would have taken something very extraordinary for me to change my mind.

“I was constantly in action, so whenever I wasn't playing in Championships for Denmark I was having surgery.

“I was never not surrounded by football or rehab. Mentally it was just wearing me down at the time.

“I nearly regretted it [the decision] after the final and then I'm thinking 'no, I've got to stick with my instinct.'

“It is what it is. If you ever have to end your Manchester United career I don't think that's a bad game to finish off.”