25 crazy Ryan Giggs facts as the Manchester United legend leaves Old Trafford

As the Man United legend confirms he is leaving the club, we gather together the 25 maddest facts about Giggs' absurd playing career

Ryan Giggs over the (many, many) years

Ryan Giggs has done the unthinkable. He has left Manchester United.

It was 29 long years ago that the skinny Welsh 17 year-old came off the Man Unitedbench against Everton to make his professional debut.

And over the course of the next almost 30 years he won everything there was to win in the domestic game and became a legend at his boyhood club.

And now it's over. The Welshman is leaving Old Trafford. He confirmed his decision to try something different on Saturday.

That's why, more than 25 years after that first appearance, we are giving you 25 facts that fully illustrate the unique nature of his career…

1. He won 34 trophies. That's nine more than Manchester City have won in their entire history.

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"Have that, City!"

2. His Premier League playing career lasted 7,934 days.

3. That is the longest Premier League playing career by a whopping 1,122 days. That means his career was more than THREE YEARS longer than the guy in second place (sorry, Paul Scholes).

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Two young men, before they grew old together

4. If you include the 18 months he spent playing in the old First Division (before it turned into the Premier League), his total career spanned 8,466 days.

5. If a player made his debut today and played for the same length of time as Giggs, he would make his final appearance on 7 May 2039.

6. If George Best had played for Man United for as long as Giggs did, he would have played under Sir Alex Ferguson.

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Imagine what could have been if Fergie had got his hands on this genius

7. He holds the record for Premier League assists, with 162.

8. In fact, he's made 59 per cent more assists than any other Premier League player (Lampard is second on the list, with 102).

9. Phil Jones wasn’t born when Giggs made his Man United debut.

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Phil Jones struggles to comprehend the magnificence of Giggs' career

10. He made 632 Premier League appearances.

READ MORE: Take the Premier League 500 club quiz

11. He STARTED 522 of those. Only four Premier League players have made more appearances than that IN TOTAL (Gary Speed, David James, Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard).

12. Only 12 TEAMS have played more Premier League games than Giggs: Chelsea, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Man United. Everton, Liverpool, Newcastle, West Ham, Man City, Blackburn and Southampton.

13. He played a grand total of 46,433 minutes of Premier League football.

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Giggs got so good at yoga, he learned to do it in mid-air

14. Giggs picked up more Premier League yellow cards (37) than Vinnie Jones (36).

15. He played 1,027 games in total.

16. He holds the record for the quickest Man United goal: after 15 seconds, against Southampton in November 1995.

17. He has been substituted more times than any other player in Premier League history (134).

Off… again

18. He made 151 Champions League appearances, third on the all-time list behind Xavi (157) and Iker Casillas (158)… and the exact same number of Champions League games Chelsea have played in their entire history.

19. Ryan Giggs played in his own testimonial. It was against Celtic in 2002 and he was just 29.

20. Giggs was the first person to ever win the PFA Young Player of the Year Award two seasons in a row (1991/92 and 1992/93).

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Look at that little face!

21. Giggs was the second midfielder to reach 100 goals for one club (after Matt Le Tissier).

22. He is the only man to have played in 19 Champions League campaigns.

23. When Giggs first scored for United, petrol was less than 40p a litre.

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His first goal: in 1991, against Man City (of all teams)

24. Giggs played against a ridiculous 117 teams over the course of his career.

25. He scored 168 goals in total for United. Despite not being known as a goalscorer, only six men have scored more for the club (George Best, Dennis Viollet, Jack Rowley, Denis Law, Wayne Rooney and Sir Bobby Charlton).