Gary Neville predicts how much Roy Keane would be worth in today's transfer market

Roy Keane would be one of the world's most expensive players if he was playing now, according to former Manchester United teammate Gary Neville.

Keane joined United from Nottingham Forest in 1993 for a then-British record transfer fee of £3.75 million and would make 37 appearances in his debut season under Sir Alex Ferguson.

He would, of course, go on to establish himself as one the Premier League's greatest midfielders, but how much would he worth in the current transfer market?

When the subject of Roy Keane’s price tag cropped up on the latest episode of the Stick to Football podcast – brought to you by Sky Bet – former United teammate Gary Neville gave him a pricey valuation.

"What was Declan Rice? £100 million," he asked. "[I think] you’d be worth £100 million [today].”

Image credit: Getty

Keane, drinking a cup of tea, replied: "Yeah, I'd think so..." before changing the subject quickly.

The conversation soon turned to right-back, with Keane and fellow pundit Ian Wright agreeing that it was the easiest position to play. Neville, however, disagreed with the statement, saying it was "subjective".

Neville later spoke about Keane playing right-back during his first season at Manchester United.

"Roy came in 1993, I was eighteen and our youth team coach made us watch the [first team] right-backs," he said.

"We had to go and report to our youth team coach on the Monday after [a game], he’d ask us questions about who played at right-back and how they play. Roy played about 15 games at right back.

"He played in what would be the inferior type games at fullback. Sometimes Sharpie [Lee Sharpe] would go left back, and Denis [Irwin] would go right back, it was when I was coming through, and he [Sir Alex Ferguson] would dip me in and out."

Image credit: Getty

Keane would clear up why he played in that position, adding: “Truthfully, one of the reasons I played right back was because I was due a hernia operation at the end of the season and he [Sir Alex Ferguson] said physically you’re struggling, so we’ll put you in at right back.

"I couldn’t get away with it in the middle of the park, but I could cope with it [at right back].”

Topics: Manchester United, Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Premier League

Jack Kenmare

Senior Journalist at SPORTbible with a passion for long-form journalism. Almost 10 years’ experience across online and print.

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