Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane believes Ryan Giggs and Denis Irwin were the world class players he has played alongside but snubbed Cristiano Ronaldo in the debate.
Keane was speaking to Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports in 2019 when the topic of world class players came up. When asked for his opinion on the teammates he had who would fit this category, the 51-year-old overlooked Ronaldo despite having played 68 times alongside him.
He explained: "We never gave ourselves an opportunity to talk about players being world class. But if I look back now, you’d have to class Giggsy [Ryan Giggs].
"I always class the world class players as lads who were doing it for nine, ten, 11 years – obviously Giggsy’s done it for a lot longer, but to me, that’s the key to being a really good player – you’ve got to be consistent. We see players now, they have a good month and [they’re] patting themselves on the back.
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"You have to be good for years and years, and Giggsy would have been a prime example." Paul Scholes, Eric Cantona and Mark Hughes also made the cut as well Irwin who he felt is underrated.
"My God, imagine if Denis Irwin was playing now,” Keane added. "He could play left-back, right-back, get you a goal, knew how to defend, never injured, a brilliant guy in the dressing room.
"Denis would be world class to me – and he’s a Corkman." Missing in this conversation is Ronaldo.
The Portuguese legend won the Ballon D'Or during his first stint at United and in the process became the first current Reds player since George Best to pick up the accolade. Keane left United in 2006, two years before Ronaldo received the award which could explain why he did not include
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