Former Tottenham and Manchester United ace Teddy Sheringham explained the change Roy Keane underwent after his move to Old Trafford and how his game morphed for the better

Teddy Sheringham played with Roy Keane at Nottingham Forest and noticed a massive change in the Irishman after his Manchester United move.

Midfield brute-turned pundit Keane arrived at Old Trafford in 1993 for a then-British transfer record of PS3.75million after spending three years in the east Midlands, and enjoyed a vastly successful 12 years with the Red Devils - winning the Premier League seven times and a Champions League to boot.

The pair of Keane and Sheringham reunited in Manchester four years later under Sir Alex Ferguson, where the Englishman added to an already eye-wateringly talented side featuring David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Andy Cole.

However, Sheringham saw a change in Keane when the two took the pitch in a different shade of red for the first time, as the once attack-minded midfielder had been crafted into a defensive general.

"There was definitely a change in him as a player, without a doubt. When I was at Forest, he'd only just broken into the first-team when I arrived there, and he was an absolutely phenomenal, up and down, central midfielder. I played up-front with Cloughie [Nigel Clough] and so there wasn't a lot of pace up there at all. So, every time the ball came up to me or Nigel, he'd be running beyond us.

"He was such a different player, by the time I got to Man United. He was a sitting midfielder who controlled the game, he didn't go forward half as much as what he used to. Whether he was told to do that, or whether his game had just changed, I don't know.

Sheringham noticed how Keane adapted to life under Ferguson ( Image:

Keane retired in 2006 after a brief spell with Celtic, during which he won a league and cup double. Shortly after hanging up his boots, he took up a managerial role at Sunderland and guided them to promotion in his first year in charge. He moved to manage Ipswich Town in 2009 before assistant spells - his latest role with former club Forest in 2019.

Having turned most of his attention to punditry, appearing on Sky Sports and ITV, Keane looks to have put coaching behind him. Sheringham hopes there may be at least one more coaching job left in him, although he isn't confident of seeing it materialise.

The pair won multiple league titles together ( Image:

"I'd be very surprised if he went into management now, especially with his track record of reacting to things when they're not going his way, as a manager. He could very easily be in a job and out of it again in six months, and find himself with nothing. I'd have loved to have seen him in charge of Man United, but I don't think that's going to happen now."

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