Roy Keane joked he would be “looking over his boys’ shoulders” on holiday after telling Kenny Dalglish he would sign for Manchester United.
The Irishman spent most of his illustrious career at Man United, where he won an incredible seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups and one Champions League between 1993 and 2005.
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But the former midfielder’s career path could have been very different if he had kept his promise to Dalglish and signed for Blackburn.
Now Keane has revealed how uncomfortable he was at telling the Scot – who led Liverpool through one of their most successful periods in the late 1980s and won the league with Blackburn in 1995 – that he would be moving to Manchester United in 1993.
In an interview with The Overlap he said: “I remember Kenny calling me and I went to Ayia Napa with some guys from Forest.
“And Kenny said, ‘I heard you’re going to United’ and I said, ‘Kenny, listen’ … to be honest, I felt like this big [gestures feeling small with his hands]’I should have contacted you.'”
When asked by Arsenal legend Ian Wright if he was scared to speak to him, he said: “A little bit, yes. A little bit embarrassed, yes, of course, and I don’t think the United team were quite out of the woods yet.”
“So that was the game I was playing. I was trying to keep United on my side or whatever. And Kenny was going mad. Absolutely.”
Former Man United teammate Gary Neville – who had obviously heard this story before – prompted Keane to tell viewers what Daglish had called him.
“Something like ‘you’re a bloody joke, nobody does that to Kenny Dalglish,'” he said. “But he was right! And he said ‘we shook hands to seal the deal’. And I remember him saying something like ‘in Scotland, if you shake hands, it’s a deal’.”
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When Neville asked if Keane would have been so angry as a coach, the 52-year-old, who coached Sunderland and Ipswich among others, said: “Yes, I would be, but if I were a coach, I probably wouldn’t strike before signing a contract. But yes.”
He continued: “But listen, I’ve done that with players when I was a manager. They’d say yes and then go to someone else the next day.
“Look, we all know it, but if things had worked out that night, I would have signed for Blackburn! So listen, you have to take responsibility, that wouldn’t happen to a club today. Everyone would stay behind, it’s not like people are leaving at 5 o’clock…
“So you have to take care of yourself. But Kenny was going crazy and I remember saying, ‘Look, Kenny, I’m going on vacation tomorrow.’ I said, ‘Listen, I’m going to enjoy it.’ That is, ‘I’m going to sign for them when I get back.’ So I said, ‘I’m done.’
“He said, ‘I’m going to f***ing find you.’ I was in Ayia Napa for a week and I kept looking around! I swear!”
Neville and Co. had to laugh at the idea of young Keane having to look after an angry Dalglish while on holiday with his boys.
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Blackburn had originally agreed to a £4 million fee for Keane as the midfielder had activated the relegation clause in his contract with Nottingham Forest after the team were relegated from the top flight.
However, Dalglish discovered they lacked the necessary paperwork to complete the transfer and, with Blackburn’s offices closed over the weekend, he agreed to come back on Monday to complete the deal.
But despite their verbal agreement, Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United pounced, taking advantage of the transfer and signing Keane on Saturday for £3.75 million, which was a British transfer record at the time.
Keane played 477 games for United, 126 for Nottingham Forest and 11 for Celtic, establishing himself as one of the best midfielders in the Premier League and beyond.