ROY KEANE played alongside some of Manchester United’s biggest names – but the Irishman claims just five were world class.
And Cristiano Ronaldo was NOT one of them.
Keane, now 50, made the stunning revelation after United were held to a 1-1 draw with Arsenal in September 2019.
The Irishman captained United during a historically successful period for the club and won the Premier League seven times with the Red Devils.
Jamie Carragher posed the question in the Sky Sports studio and Keane‘s answer surprised fans watching at home.
Keane said: “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 patting themselves on the back.
“You have to be good for years and years, and Giggsy would have been a prime example.”
The former Republic of Ireland international then described Mark Hughes as a ‘brilliant striker’ before adding Paul Scholes and Eric Cantona to the world class list.
But he saved his old friend, roommate and fellow Irishman Denis Irwin until last, saving special praise for the full-back.
Keane gushed: “My god, imagine if Denis Irwin was playing now.
“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!”
The omission of Ronaldo will come as a surprise to most as the Portuguese superstar was the first Man Utd player to win the Ballon d’Or since George Best in 1968.
And he also scored 118 goals in 292 games for the Red Devils and helped deliver their last Champions League title in 2008.
However, he only spent two years with Keane at United and perhaps didn’t have long enough to impress the notoriously hard-to-please club legend.
