“Kante’s a fantastic player, but Roy’s better than Kante.”
There wasn’t much happening in the football world earlier this week, the inevitable lull that comes with the international break could be felt as footballers jetted off to play for the national teams.
However, as he’s inclined to do, Roy Keane got people talking with a comment he made at a press conference for the Republic of Ireland.
The Ireland assistant manager was asked about the spiralling transfer fees in the recent window. Paris Saint-Germain obliterated the world transfer record by paying Barcelona £198m for Neymar, and it appeared as though no Premier League player could move clubs for less than £30m.
Keane was perplexed as most of us with the transfer fees.
“It’s mind-boggling, the figures that are out there, especially for the average players,” the former Manchester United captain told reporters.
“If ever there was a time to be a professional player it’s now. Average players are going for £35 million. My goodness. I don’t really analyse it too much, but that’s the market place at the moment. There aren’t many top players out there. The really big players are going for big money and it’s filtering down now. When average players are going for £30-40 million, it does make you scratch your head. But if the clubs are prepared to pay that, then it’s not the players’ fault.”
Keane was then asked how much he and his former United teammates would be worth in the current market. The Irishman said the trio of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham would move for astronomical fees if they were in their prime now.
“Ruud would certainly be worth in the market now probably a billion. David Beckham? A billion. Ryan Giggs? Two billion.”
Giggs was asked about Keane’s comments, and repaid the compliment, before detailing what made the Irishman such a brilliant player. According to the United legend, there’s no-one like Keane currently playing, and that the closest to him, N’Golo Kante, isn’t on the same level as his old teammate.
“He’s always spoken a lot of sense, has Roy” Giggs told WalesOnline.
“I don’t know about £2 billion, but I think Roy’s point was that now you’re seeing average players go for massive sums. You couldn’t buy him because you look around the league and who is like him? Kante’s a fantastic player but Roy’s better than Kante. He could do everything. When he came to United, when he signed from (Nottingham) Forest, he was an attacking midfielder, going from box to box, getting beyond the centre-forwards, scoring goals. And then he turned into a midfielder who just controlled the tempo and along with (Paul) Scholesy was part of a fantastic midfield.”
You can watch Giggs here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgBnUsRxBkw
