Damien Duff has spoken of how he intends to play outside England for a season, before winding up his playing career in Ireland. The Fulham winger admitted that he has probably played his last game for the club and will leave Craven Cottage in the summer.
“I’m up at the end of the season,” he told the Irish Times, “the club haven’t spoken to me and I haven’t spoken to the club but we don’t need to speak: I’ll be leaving Fulham. I’ve had a great time here but that’s football.
“I’ve had a few whispers from here and there but I’m just trying to get this (his knee) right first. I’ve looked at the Australia or America thing for a bit, it would be a different way of life, a different league; I think life’s too short just to be stuck in the rat race, if that’s the right phrase, over here so I’d maybe like to taste something new before I go back home.”
Asked whether Robbie Keane has recommended a move to the US, Duff said: “We’ve had a bit of banter alright. He obviously loves it and every six months I see he’s signed a new deal so he’ll be there for a good while yet.
“We’ll see what happens but I wouldn’t mind trying it to be fair but I have to get back fit first, I’ve got a screw in my knee now and a screw in the knee of a jinky winger doesn’t really go hand in hand . . . but we’ll see what happens. We’d be up for it and we’d like to see the world but it wouldn’t be for a jolly up. I’m still as hungry as ever.”
“Everybody knows I want to go back and play in Ireland,” he says, “but whether that’s this summer I don’t know. My body feels good so I’d like to do a year or two elsewhere first.”
As we saw last week, a short spell in the MLS as a Designated Player wouldn't do Duffer's bank balance any harm at all.
[Irish Times]
