Charlotte midfielder Westwood: I was ready to retire at Burnley

Former Premier League footballer Ashley Westwood was ready to retire recently.

The veteran, who is now 33, was set to call time on his career before a recent move.

Westwood has found his home at Charlotte FC in the MLS, where he is ready to play for a long time.

"It's the best thing I've ever done," he stated to reporters this weekend.

"I was close to retiring. Very close after I did my ankle at Burnley.

It was a mess. I got halfway through my rehab and was like 'I've had enough, I'm done'. But even before that I was getting fed up with football."

He added on the challenge of playing in the Premier League: "With Burnley it was just about constantly trying to stay up and avoid relegation.

I had 10 to 12 years of that and it gets a lot. Mentally it gets tough. The only thing with English football is that you never know when it's going to turn.

"I took a lot of stick at Aston Villa, the gaffer [Dean Smith] is a Villa fan and even he came in and battered me! It was hard for my family, we lived in Birmingham and it was really tough. The chairman pulled the money out of the club and it created a toxic atmosphere."