Manchester United legend Roy Keane has candidly opened up on a career regret after claiming that he “embarrassed” himself over one key decision.
Widely revered for his time as United captain, Keane’s long-lasting legacy at Old Trafford is spoken about to this day as the Irishman excelled at the club.
During his time at the Red Devils, the United legend captured seven Premier League titles, a Champions League and four FA Cups under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Keane made a total of 478 appearances for United, with the footballer-turned-pundit scoring 51 times for the Red Devils and picking up 38 assists along the way.
However, the 52-year-old no-nonsense Irishman’s time at Old Trafford came to an abrupt end after his falling out with Ferguson and infamous MUTV interview in 2005.
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United legend Keane on Celtic regret
Keane left United in 2005 and signed for Celtic, with the ex-midfielder lifting the Scottish Premier League title and a Scottish League Cup in his debut season.
During his first and only season with Celtic, the ex-United skipper was reduced to only 10 appearances for the Scottish side and scored once and registered one assist.
Keane ended his football career in 2006 due to a then-long-running hip injury, with the Sky Sports pundit claiming at the time that his “only option” was retirement.
Speaking on The Overlap’s Stick to Football show, the former Republic of Ireland international believes that he shouldn’t have signed for Celtic when he left United.
“I was 34 when I finished. But I should have retired when I left United. I even lost a bit of the love for the game after that,” Keane said.
“I went up to Celtic but my hip was really at me, painkillers for training. I tore my hamstring two or three times up at Celtic. I was commuting. I still had a year left on my contract and I rang Gordon.
“I went to see the hip specialist who said the longer you play on, the worse [the] damage… he was talking about when I retire, about quality of life.
“I rang Gordon Strachan about what do I do. I had gone up there and kind of embarrassed myself, I wasn’t really doing the business.
“I’d said I [was] finished but losing sleep before I rang him, as soon as I put the phone down, I had closure on my career.
“I had no hesitation, I wouldn’t say relief, but something lifted off me. When you have had injuries, it beats you up.”
Keane’s legacy unblemished by Celtic spell
While Keane holds regrets over his time at Celtic, the former Sunderland and Ipswich Town manager’s overall legacy wasn’t fazed by the spell.
The former United midfielder was at the tail end of his professional playing career when he was at Celtic and was far from at the peak of his United powers.
Keane has since admitted regret over his decision to not play abroad after two elite European clubs were interested in signing him when he was at United.
Irrespective of what has happened and what has been said, United fans can — and always will — appreciate what Keane brought to Old Trafford during his career.
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