Players such as Roy Keane don’t come around very often – and Manchester United truly found that out upon his 2005 departure.
As far as captains go, Roy Keane will go down as the best of the best.
Manchester United signed Keane from Nottingham Forest in 1993, luring him away from Brian Clough’s side.
The Irishman took the armband in 1997 upon Eric Cantona’s retirement and captained United to four Premier League titles.
Add in two FA Cups and one Champions League, and Keane will be known as arguably United’s finest skipper.
Keane even left Sir Bobby Charlton in awe with a stunning performance against Juventus in 1999, dragigng United through on the way to a treble-winning season.
Keane left under a cloud in 2005 as his contract was terminated by mutual consent amid deteriorating relations with Sir Alex Ferguson.
Photo by Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images
Photo by Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images
Sir Alex Ferguson thought he had found the perfect Roy Keane replacement
Keane moved to Celtic but made little impact before retiring in 2006 and becoming the Sunderland manager.
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Keane admitted making a mistake by joining Celtic, and United didn’t exactly find it easy to replace him.
Michael Carrick arrived from Tottenham Hotspur in 2006, but his style of play didn’t really match Keane’s.
United then snapped up Owen Hargreaves in 2007, signing the England international from Bayern Munich.
Ferguson had originally wanted to sign Hargreaves in 2006, when he caught the eye for England at the World Cup in Germany.
Hargreaves finally arrived a year later than planned, with United paying £17million, according to The Guardian.
Ferguson would later brand the deal a ‘disaster’ in ‘Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography’, which was released in 2013.
As quoted by Joe, Ferguson noted that Hargreaves was ‘phenomenal’ at the 2006 World Cup and United ‘worked hard’ to sign him up.
Ferguson felt that Hargreaves was the perfect player to replace Keane with his battling quality in midfield.
Ferguson began to have doubts, though, and those concerns rang true, with the legendary United boss admitting that Hargreaves was one of his most disappointing signings.
Hargreaves struggled with injuries at Old Trafford, but Ferguson accused him of taking ‘the easy choice’ in training too often and didn’t feel that he showed the determination required to overcome his problems.
“I look back less fondly on our move for Owen Hargreaves, who was phenomenal in the summer of 2006 and was just the type of player we needed to fill the gap left by Keane,” said Ferguson.
“We started to put together a bid for him, but I studied his playing record and felt a tinge of doubt. I didn’t feel a strong vibe about him. David Gill worked hard on the deal with Bayern. I met Owen’s agent at the World Cup final in Berlin. Nice man, a lawyer. I told him we could develop Hargreaves at United. It turned out to be a disaster.
“Owen had no confidence in himself whatsoever. He didn’t show nearly enough determination to overcome his physical difficulties, for my liking. I saw him opt for the easy choice too often in terms of training. He was one of the most disappointing signings of my career,” he added.
Owen Hargreaves wasn’t worth the wait for United
Ferguson and United worked on the Hargreaves deal for a year in the expectation of him stepping up as Keane’s heir.
Outside of a memorable free kick against Arsenal, Hargreaves simply didn’t prove himself to be worth the wait.
United fans didn’t see enough of those brilliant England displays replicated, and Ferguson was left frustrated.
Paul Scholes has previously commented on Hargreaves, admitting that Ferguson was once angered by him picking up a hamstring issue.
“I remember, we had Owen Hargreaves who was unfortunately injured a lot, and the manager eventually became frustrated because we couldn’t get him back,” Scholes said.
“I remember one game where we were playing Arsenal at home, Owen had been out for some time and was nearly back, and he went out for the warmup and came in feeling his hamstring and you could just see the anger and frustration in the manager’s face,” he added.
Hargreaves made just 27 Premier League appearances for United and only 39 across all competitions.
United let Hargreaves go after four disappointing years at Old Trafford, and his surprise spell with Manchester City resulted in just four appearances.
Hargreaves never played again after leaving City in 2012, effectively retiring at the age of just 31.
In another world, Hargreaves would have taken those England displays to Old Trafford and made himself the next United midfield hero after Keane’s exit.
Instead, his transfer will, sadly, go down as one of United’s worst – especially considering the time and effort required to strike the deal.