Roy Keane has admitted that he opted to move to Celtic rather than taking up an offer to go to Real Madrid. The Irishman’s Manchester United career ended in a furious row with Sir Alex Ferguson, meaning that the fierce midfielder was able to leave the Premier League powerhouse for free. Speculation at the time was rife about where the legendary player would end up.
Speaking on The Overlap podcast, Keane revealed that he had an offer to go to La Liga before an emotional decision led him to join Gordon Strachan’s Scottish Champions.
“You turned down Real Madrid?!” 🤯
Roy Keane reveals who he had offers from when leaving United 👀 pic.twitter.com/Dx1FmGvAZ3
— The Overlap (@WeAreTheOverlap) June 24, 2024
Keane made just 13 appearances for Celtic, scoring once before he was forced to retire. It is a shame that fans were only limited to such a small amount of games watching Keane as games like this showcase how good a player he still was, even if he was in the twilight of his career. A hip injury resulted in Keane bringing the curtain down on a glittering career that included moments of brilliance and madness.
Keane would help Celtic complete a double that season with the League Cup and League, his last as a player. Keane has made the move into management and coaching since retiring but he continues to earn the headlines for his work as a pundit.
I was living in Spain at the time and read the rumours. Following Roy’s decision, Madrid fanzine-disguised-as-a-newspaper, La Marca, did a feature on his Celtic debut.
I remember thinking ” La Marca doing a two-page colour spread on a Clyde home game ? Wow ! “
Forgot to add. The paper revelled in Celtic’s defeat following his snub.