Manchester United legend Roy Keane revealed to Gary Neville that he only ever asked for one shirt swap in his illustrious playing career, only for his request to be rejected.
Keane crossed paths with an abundance of legendary players in his spell at United, with the Sky Sports pundit being a pivotal figure in Sir Alex Ferguson’s success.
The 52-year-old Irishman, who is considered one of the best midfielders of all time, excelled as captain under Ferguson and hoovered up major silverware at United.
Keane, who recently made a surprising admission from his time at United, was known and admired for his no-nonsense approach and attitude on the pitch.
The ex-United skipper has previously made his feelings clear on shirt-swapping when ex-club teammate Neville told him about the only jersey he sought out in his career.
Despite Keane not being too thrilled with the idea of swapping shirts, the legendary ex-United midfielder surprisingly admitted he did ask one player to swap jerseys.
However, the failed shirt swap didn’t come during Keane’s time at United and instead happened when he was representing the Republic of Ireland on the international stage.
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Keane told Neville about shirt snub
Speaking on The Overlap in 2021, Keane recalled the time that he represented his country in a friendly match against Germany ahead of the 1994 World Cup.
The former Republic of Ireland international said that his team won the match and he approached ex-Germany international Matthias Sammer for a shirt swap.
But Keane was in for a rude awakening as the ex-Borussia Dortmund and VfB Stuttgart player rejected his request and the Sky Sports pundit regretted his decision.
“I’ve asked one player to swap a jersey, which I regret, when I played Germany with Ireland,” he told Neville.
“Once to swap a player for Germany, the pre-94 World Cup. We played Germany in a friendly. And after the game — we had beaten them, to be fair — I was being polite […].
“What’s the sweeper, Sammer. He said, ‘No’ and I went, ‘f***k.’ Anyway, but that was it and I just thought I shouldn’t be asking.”
The one shirt swap Keane would want
Keane admitted that Sammer was “polite,” despite rejecting his request, and the United legend revealed that the former Germany player wouldn’t be his first choice for a shirt swap.
The former Republic of Ireland midfielder is a big admirer of Zinedine Zidane and even named the ex-Real Madrid manager as his toughest opponent of all time.
Keane, who claimed one Premier League legend would have been a squad player at United, crossed paths with Zidane both in his club career and on the international stage.
The United legend revealed that a shirt swap between him and Zidane could have happened after a Madrid match, but neither ex-player asked for it at the time.
“Honestly, he [Sammer] was polite — not that I wanted his jersey — but if I really wanted to swap with somebody, it probably would have been Zidane or somebody,” Keane continued.
“But after that I just went, it’s just stupid swapping jerseys really.
“And Zidane, I remember we played him when we were at United and obviously Zidane was a brilliant player and after the Madrid game we were walking up the tunnel together and sometimes you walk up to the player and I was looking at him and he was looking at me, and I was thinking he’d probably ask me [for my shirt].
“But no, we didn’t. I’m glad [we didn’t swap shirts], and that was the other time I thought, ‘Will I, won’t I?’ and I’ve gone, ‘No, leave it.’”