Gabby Agbonlahor turned down chance to sign for two National League clubs before deciding to end time on his footballing career in March 2019.
He retired aged 32 after being without a club for under a year since leaving Aston Villa, where he scored 75 goals in 341 appearances between 2005 and 2018.
He told the Claret & Blue podcast: “I had people calling me from Wrexham, Solihull Moors. OK, I had to make it public in the March to let everyone know I’m not playing again. There were offers Aberdeen. No offence to these clubs but I’m not going to play for Aberdeen!
“The only reason I made my retirement public was because I was getting silly offers, people were giving me my number out.
“I played at the highest level for Aston Villa and I’m not ending up at Aberdeen. Some players are different, some will go to like Forest Green and play until they’re legs don’t work any more when they’re 38/39.
“To me, I wanted to go out on a sort of high and I was a one-club man. I’m not going down the leagues and my body told me it’s time. It’s early, 31, don’t get me wrong. You’ve got Gareth Barry still playing at 39.
“My body was telling me to stop.
“At the end of that season (2017-18) I got offers from here and abroad and, the longer it went (without playing) the offers got worse and worse.
“It came to September, October, November and then January (2019) and you can’t expect any offers to be good.”
Fans reacted after finding out which two National League clubs Gabby Agbonlahor turned down chance to sign for…
Glad he didn’t join us if that was his attitude! Some players have loads of talent but not the mental strength to get the most out of their careers.
— Ben Williams (@ben_wrecsam) May 8, 2020
Decided to take a closer peek to see what was happening with #wxmafc during lockdown. So far..
1: more rumblings of discontent between fans & the board and a lot of dirty laundry being aired in public;
2: we wanted to sign Gabby Agbonlahor before he retired. pic.twitter.com/xbsfBds7Ix
— Fearless In Devotion (@fearlessidzine) May 9, 2020
Dave Rumball: Sounds like a right big time prick , I thought he retired 10 years ago anyway ??
Shauny Morris: Soon would have been ruined by Pep Darlington!
Jamie West: He’s basically laughing at us ?
Gareth Michael Chaloner: Didn’t know this!
Ed Finton: Wouldn’t want you with that kind of attitude
Brad Roberts: Glad we didn’t have you anyway
Katie Bailey: Must have really lost his love for football
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