Giggs leaves Salford City to pursue first managerial role since Wales tenure

Ryan Giggs has stepped back from his day-to-day duties at Salford City as he pursues a return to management, according to a report. The 51-year-old former Manchester United winger has not managed a side since leaving Wales in June 2022 amid a legal case, and he is said to be seeking his first permanent managerial role since then. The Sun reports that Giggs is no longer involved in the club’s day-to-day operations as director of football and will be free to pursue opportunities elsewhere, including potential managerial vacancies.

Giggs has long been linked with coaching roles since his days as a player. He took charge as interim manager of Manchester United in 2014 following the sacking of David Moyes, then served as United’s assistant manager from 2014 to 2016 before taking up the Wales job. He remained in that role until 2022, overseeing a period during which Wales qualified for Euro 2020, their first major tournament since 1958.

Giggs’ tenure with Wales ended in 2022, shortly after he was arrested on suspicion of assault, with the case culminating in charges being withdrawn before a retrial and him being cleared. He missed Euro 2020’s finals with Rob Page taking charge of the squad, and he returned to football with Salford City as director of football while also helping out manager Karl Robinson on matchdays. Salford City, owned by a group led by David Beckham and Gary Neville, has seen Giggs step back from the day-to-day running, and his exit is being reported as a deliberate bid to restore momentum to his coaching career.

Aside from his club roles, Giggs’ playing career remains one of the most decorated in English football. He won 13 Premier League titles with Manchester United, all under Sir Alex Ferguson, and made 963 appearances for United, along with 64 caps for Wales. He also holds the Premier League’s all-time assists record with 162, a statistic that underscored his reputation as a creative force on the field. He has not been nominated for the Premier League Hall of Fame shortlist in recent years despite several of his former United teammates being named.

In interviews from earlier this year, Giggs expressed a desire to return to management, saying that he had enjoyed his stint with Wales and that, eventually, he would like to return to a managerial role. His public comments reflected a consistent theme in his career: a strong appetite for coaching and leadership, even after stepping away from top-level roles.

The path back to management for Giggs, however, remains unclear. The Sun’s report notes only that he is seeking new opportunities and has stepped back from his Salford duties to pursue them. Salford City has not issued a statement confirming the details beyond the internal changes described by reports. His off-field history, including the arrest and subsequent legal developments, has continued to cast a shadow over his broader legacy, even as his on-field achievements endure in the record books.

Giggs’ career arc has long intertwined success with controversy. His time as a player at Manchester United was marked by domestic and European triumphs, while his coaching career has been punctuated by periods of high visibility and quiet pursuit of opportunities away from the spotlight. Whether a club will appoint him to lead a team on a long-term project remains to be seen, but the championships, records, and experiences he accumulated during his playing days, combined with his coaching ambitions, keep him among the sport’s most talked-about figures.

The Sun’s report, which appears to be the primary source for this update, underscores a significant shift for a figure who has often functioned at the intersection of high-level football and media attention. As Giggs weighs his next move, observers will be watching for the first concrete steps he takes toward returning to a managerial role, and for how clubs might weigh his track record, both as a player and as a coach, against the complexities of his recent off-field history.