Roy Keane has claimed Cristiano Ronaldo was not among the five world-class players he played with at Manchester United.
The former United captain made the revelation during a Sky Sports broadcast in 2019 leaving viewers stunned.
3
He told fellow pundit Jamie Carragher: “We never gave ourselves an opportunity to talk about players being world-class.
“But if I look back now, you’d have to class Giggsy [Ryan Giggs].
“I always class the world class players as lads who were doing it for nine, ten, 11 years – obviously Giggsy’s done it for a lot longer, but to me, that’s the key to being a really good player – you’ve got to be consistent.
“We see players now, they have a good month and [they’re] patting themselves on the back.
“You have to be good for years and years, and Giggsy would have been a prime example.”
Keane’s list of world-class teammates included Paul Scholes, Eric Cantona and Mark Hughes.
He also reserved a special mention for fellow countryman Denis Irwin who spent 12 years at Old Trafford between 1990 and 2002.
“My God, imagine if Denis Irwin was playing now,” Keane said.
“He could play left-back, right-back, get you a goal, knew how to defend, never injured, a brilliant guy in the dressing room.
“Denis would be world class to me – and he’s a Corkman!”
3
3
Despite Ronaldo being crowned the first United player to win the Ballon d’Or since George Best in 1968, his omission from Keane’s list may have been due to the pair playing just two seasons together.
Keane left Manchester United in 2005 in acrimonious circumstances after giving a bombshell interview to club channel MUTV, fiercely criticising his teammates following a 4-1 defeat at Middlesbrough.
