"We were doubtful": Roy Keane claims he didn't think Gary Neville would last at Manchester United

Former Manchester United player Roy Keane during the Carabao Cup match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham on Wednesday 25th January 2023.
(Image credit: Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane has taken a humorous swipe at ex-colleague Gary Neville, telling him he didn't think he'd make it as a player in the first team.

Keane joined Manchester United in 1993 from Nottingham Forest, which coincided with the club bringing the Class of '92 through the Red Devils' academy. Gary Neville was one of a number of players including Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Paul Scholes who all made it at Old Trafford as homegrown stars. 

During a discussion about the current Arsenal side and the youngsters that have been brought from the Gunners' Hale End production line through to the first team, Keane was asked about the similarity between Arsenal's young core and the United youngsters of the early 1990s. Naturally, the cantankerous Corkonian couldn't resist a subtle dig at his Sky colleague. 

"We were doubtful honestly when Gary came across," Keane joked (we think), before praising the likes of Giggs and Scholes.

Keane has frequently mocked Neville over his time as a Sky pundit, suggesting that the former full-back wasn't good enough to play for the club. On several occasions, the ex-Republic of Ireland international has claimed that Neville only played at right-back because there was no one else to fulfil the role. 

Roy Keane took the Manchester United captaincy in 1997, skippering the side to 10 titles in an eight-year spell before leaving for Celtic in 2005. Neville then took up the role for the Red Devils, leading his boyhood side to another 10 titles with the armband before his retirement in 2010. 

Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.