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Former Manchester United and Uruguay forward Diego Forlan has announced his retirement.<\/p>\nFormer Manchester United and Uruguay forward Diego Forlan has announced his retirement.<\/p>\n
The 40-year-old, who also played for Villarreal, Atl\u00e9tico Madrid and Inter Milan, revealed his decision on Twitter.<\/p>\n
He wrote: \u201cAfter 21 years I made the decision to end my career as a professional footballer.<\/p>\n
\u201cA beautiful stage closes full of great memories and emotions but another of new challenges will begin.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks to all who in one way or another accompanied me on this path!\u201d<\/p>\n
Forlan moved to Manchester United from Argentine side Independiente for \u00a36.9million in January 2002.<\/p>\n
He had to wait until September to score his first goal, and went on to find the net 17 times in 98 appearances.<\/p>\n
Although his time at Old Trafford was not exactly a roaring success, Forlan became a prolific goalscorer in La Liga for both Villareal and Atl\u00e9tico.<\/p>\n
He also scored 36 goals in 112 games for Uruguay, helping them to the Copa Am\u00e9rica title in 2011.<\/p>\n
Forlan won the Golden Ball award for the best player at the 2010 World Cup \u2013 where Uruguay reached the semi-finals.<\/p>\n
He wound down his career with boyhood club Penarol, Mumbai City and most recently Kitchee in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n