Speaking after West Ham's 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester United Mark Noble has said that this could be his last season as a player.
The West Ham captain will be out of contract at the end of the season after a near two-decade association with the club. Noble joined the Hammers as a youth team player in 2003 before making his first-team debut in 2004, aged 17 against Southend United in the League Cup.
He has led the Hammers in all three FA Cup ties this year, but has only started two league games this season compared with 32 in the 2019-20 campaign.
"I am 34 in May, I have not got too long left but I am going to enjoy every minute of it. To play out there at Old Trafford for maybe the last time, because whether I’ll play here next year I don’t know," Noble told West Ham TV.
"I’m just gutted for all the West Ham fans and the boys are gutted because it was a good game of football, end to end, we gave everything and walked off with nothing left," he added.
Noble has played more than 500 matches for West Ham, but the love of representing the club and the thrill of playing in the country's best stadiums has still not left him.
"You might think I’d be sick of the sight of Old Trafford after all these years, but it’s quite the opposite, really. You look around and what a place to play.
"As a kid you dream of playing here and I’ve been lucky enough to play against Manchester United a lot of times."
Noble has only represented the Hammers in Europe during the qualifying rounds for the Europa League and would love to see his team playing on the continent next season, with or without him.
"We need to concentrate on getting into the European places. That’s our main aim now, to keep winning and getting into good positions and to push this club on to be the best it can be."
With West Ham knocked out of both cup competitions they have 15 league games left this season to concentrate on and give their captain the send-off he deserves.
Unless of course, he decides he has another year in his legs and the chance to bid a proper farewell to his adoring fans.
