Aberdeen star Jonny Hayes insists he’d be happy to retire a Don after penning a new one-year deal.
The Irishman has committed to another year at Pittodrie and says he owes the club another season.
The 34-year-old is confident his body will hold up for another year of rough and tumble in the Scottish Premiership.
But he’s not sure what the future holds after that.
Speaking to RedTV, he said: “I have always had it in my head that I don’t want to play when I’m not physically at the top of my game.
“I don’t want to be struggling to train on a Monday or Tuesday.
“Obviously the motivation and enthusiasm would never go away, but I don’t want to get to the stage where I can’t physically keep up.
“I think I will probably play one more year knowing that. I think I have managed to stay physically fit enough for my age and I think after another year we will take it as it comes.
“The idea I have in my head is to play one more year and then retire. If I can retire at Aberdeen then that will obviously make me happy.”
It comes in the same week club captain Scott Brown’s departure was confirmed, whom Hayes also played with at Celtic.
He added: “He is my mate but he is still the best professional I have come across in terms of the minute he steps on the pitch he trains and plays every day like it is his last.
“That is probably something I have picked up a little bit from him. I know the younger lads have picked that up as you see them talking about him.
“You might have played three games in a week and you come in on the Monday and think you may be getting a nice relaxing warm-up but he is there 100 miles per hour and setting the standards.
“The days he didn’t train were maybe a relief to some people. He has always been like that.
“He has only been here a short space of time but people will have picked up on how he has carried himself over the last 10, 12, 15 years. That can only be a good thing.
“I have certainly learnt an awful lot from him over the last five years or so. I know how easy good habits can be picked up and he has plenty of them.”
