Roy Keane made 'mistake' in his contract which almost cost him Man Utd transfer

Manchester United legend Roy Keane has revealed how a "mistake" almost saw him head to Blackburn Rovers instead of Old Trafford.

Keane, talking on Stick to Football by Sky Bet, lifted the lid on how he did '"daft" things early on in his career, one of which almost saw him jeopardise his move to United. The ex-midfielder joined the Red Devils in 1993 from Nottingham Forest and went on to become a legend at Old Trafford. However, the former Irish international has let slip on how it could have been very different.

The Sky Sports and ITV pundit has disclosed that a contract detail nearly meant he headed to Kenny Dalglish's Blackburn instead of joining up with Sir Alex Ferguson. Keane described how a relegation release clause and disagreement with then Forest manager Brian Clough meant he was not far off from missing out on his move to United.

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“I looked at senior players at [Nottingham] Forest and was picking up things but also made mistakes – I had to make mistakes, I had to do daft things at Nottingham, but I was 19 years of age, so I was going to make those mistakes," Keane said.‌

The ex-United captain also opened up about how he went through a "rollercoaster" in his Forest days after experiencing big highs and lows for such a young player. He also talked about how he was beginning to learn the "business" side of the game, which led him to make the error that nearly cost him his switch to United.

“I was learning my trade but before I knew it, I was in the Irish squad and had played about 110-120 games [professionally] – I was getting a foundation to my career," Keane