The former England international signed for Manchester United in 2007 and enjoyed a successful debut season at the club before a series of injury worries led to the energetic midfielder spending a lot of time on the treatment table.
“I had tendonitis when I first came over,” he explained. "The problem is, I always just played through everything.
“[Tendonitis] was something you can play through, and I managed that the whole season at United. I took painkillers to play because I wanted to play every game.
“At the end of the season, [I had] some treatment [and] I thought I was going to be fit for the start of pre-season.