Roy Keane is no stranger to making controversial comments in his role as a pundit, but the Manchester United legend once issued arguably his most damning verdict by naming an England international as the ‘most overrated player on the planet’.
Keane, arguably the best captain in Premier League history, has been a regular face on our TV screens over the past decade after entering the world of punditry when his promising managerial career came to an abrupt halt following a spell with Ipswich Town.
The former Republic of Ireland midfielder, who inspired Man Utd to seven Premier League titles under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson, had stints as an assistant manager alongside Martin O’Neill with his national team, followed by Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, but it’s now far more likely that the 54-year-old will continue working on TV rather than appearing in another dugout.
It could be argued that Keane has mellowed slightly over the years, although Ferguson’s infamous 2013 assessment of the Irishman certainly rang true during his early years on TV.
"The hardest part of Roy's body is his tongue. He has the most savage tongue you can imagine,” Ferguson wrote about Keane in his infamous second autobiography. "He can debilitate the most confident person in the world in seconds. He was an intimidating, ferocious individual."
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One former England star who discovered this the hard way is Jack Wilshere, the technically-gifted midfielder who is best remembered for his 10-year spell at Arsenal.
After the Gunners suffered a 2-1 defeat to Ostersunds in the Europa League knockout stages in February 2018, Keane delivered a verbal two-footer on the injury-prone midfielder. He said:
'I always think, when Wilshere’s your captain, to me, probably the most overrated player on the planet…”
While Arsenal still progressed to the Europa League last 16 with a 4-2 aggregate victory, Keane was less-than-impressed by Wilshere’s abject display and didn’t hold back with his brutally honest thoughts.
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Arsenal’s manager at the time, Arsene Wenger, responded to Keane’s comments by telling reporters: "It's very difficult to hear. I rate Wilshere very highly. You can have opinions. Jack was in the team last night but did not perform particularly well.
"It was certainly not one of his best performances. Roy Keane knows that it can happen to anybody."
Wilshere ended up leaving Arsenal months later, signing a permanent deal with West Ham United in the summer of 2018. However, the Englishman’s best days were sadly already behind him by this point.
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It had already been two years by this point since Wilshere last featured for England. He earned 34 caps for the Three Lions between 2010-2016, scoring two goals.
Still only 34 years old, Wilshere is now in the process of earning his stripes in the cutthroat world of football management. Following an interim spell with Norwich City, Wilshere was appointed first-team manager of Luton Town in October 2025.