For over a decade, Roy Keane was an absolutely vital cog in the Manchester United machine. His time at Old Trafford saw him win seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups, and the Champions League.

Iconic club manager Sir Alex Ferguson signed the Irishman from Nottingham Forest in 1993 and named him club captain after just four years. Together, they dominated English football but things ended on very bad terms.

Ever the outspoken character, Keane tore into a number of teammates in a club TV interview, which was not aired to the public. Ferguson was furious, and this was one of a few issues which ultimately led the midfielder to leave Old Trafford in November 2005.

Having spent 12 and a half years at Manchester United, Keane was naturally given a testimonial game to mark his exit from the club. However, manager Ferguson stopped one man from playing in the friendly fixture.

Man Utd Star Missed Roy Keane’s Testimonial

Ferguson’s decision was not made because he necessarily had an issue with Keane, but rather with Ruud van Nistelrooy. Indeed, the Dutch forward’s future had been the subject of intense speculation, and so was forbidden from playing in the testimonial.

As per Sky Sports’ report at the time, Van Nistelrooy was deeply upset that United had taken their hostility out on him in this way, and deprived ‘good friend’ Keane of his presence on the Irishman’s special night. The iconic club striker remarked:

As per BBC Sport, Keane was disappointed his former team-mate missed the game. He said: “I spoke to Ruud. It was unfortunate and disappointing he wasn’t here but everyone has their own path to go down.

“Ruud is still under contract to United and I wish him well.”

Van Nistelrooy Also Left Man Utd Amid Tension With Ferguson

With all the transfer speculation making headlines, Ferguson had also left Van Nistelrooy out of his team to face Charlton on the final day of the Premier League season. This robbed the striker of a final chance to say a proper goodbye to the Old Trafford faithful, as that would have been his final game for the club.

Having also not been able to play in Keane’s testimonial, Van Nistelrooy’s last match for Man Utd came in a 0-0 draw against Middlesbrough earlier in May. Speaking after the Charlton game, United boss Ferguson said:

“There have been a couple of issues during the week that concerned us in terms of the spirit of the club.

“On such an important day, I felt that Ruud should be left out. We will be discussing it with club directors.”

Van Nistelrooy would join Real Madrid in July that summer, having scored 150 goals for the Red Devils in 219 games.

Manchester United are looking to strengthen this summer on the back of the club’s best season for years.

The Red Devils finished third in the Premier League, prompting the club’s hierarchy to hire Michael Carrick as their new permanent manager on the back of a successful interim spell.

Although supporters will be more excited about the prospect of blockbuster signings, with the likes of Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville amongst the names linked, United will also need to bring in some smaller-profile names in order to maintain the balance of the squad as the club returns to the Champions League.

One of those departments is expected to be goalkeeper depth.

Man United hold talks with former goalkeeper

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Senne Lammens had an impressive maiden campaign at Old Trafford last season, establishing himself as the Red Devils’ first choice in between the sticks. However, bringing in support for the Belgian is on United’s to-do list this window.

According to The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell, internal talks have taken place over the possibility of re-signing ex-United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, who is currently at recently-relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers. Additionally, Leeds United’s Karl Darlow is another name who has been mentioned with his contract at Elland Road set to expire at the end of this month.

Johnstone spent the majority of last season as Wolves’ back-up to José Sá, playing 12 times in the Premier League alongside six cup appearances. Over the past four seasons, the Englishman has made 48 league appearances.

Labelled as “special” by United great David De Gea, the Preston-born shot stopper came through the youth ranks at United and had numerous loan spells across the EFL, including at Preston North End and Aston Villa, before making a permanent switch to West Bromwich Albion in 2018. He never made a competitive appearance for the Red Devils.

Why are United looking at a new goalkeeper?

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The report continues that all three of Andre Onana, Altay Bayindir and Radek Vitek are all expected to leave Old Trafford this summer either on loan or permanently, while Tom Heaton is seen as the club’s third choice after signing a new one-year deal.

Onana spent last season on loan at Turkish side Trabzonspor and is reportedly on a whopping £160,000 per week. Meanwhile, Vitek impressed on loan at Championship side Bristol City last season but will only get consistent game time elsewhere and Bayindir is expected to return to his native Turkey.

Therefore, Carrick’s side will need a refresh in the goalkeeping department, particularly considering the extra fixtures added to their calendar now that they are back in Europe.

Lammens remains the undisputed number one, but the 23-year-old is in need of new support.

The New York Knicks added another page to their legendary history last weekend as they ended a 53-year NBA Championship drought. By virtue of their 94-90 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5, the Knicks won the NBA Finals, securing their third NBA Championship.

Having waited since 1973, Knicks fans were overjoyed at the success, ending years of pain and suffering. The manner in which they won the title was also particularly impressive.

Games 6 and 7 weren’t even necessary for Mike Brown’s team, with the New York franchise clinching the series early. For as much joy as there was for those with a fondness for the Knicks, there was plenty of sadness, frustration and reflection for the Spurs.

Wembanyama Opens Up on NBA Finals Defeat

Spurs’ center Victor Wembanyama endured a tough series for a number of reasons. After losing the title to the Knicks, the 22-year-old Frenchman spoke to the media and explained what he had learned from the defeat.

After the Game 5 loss, Victor Wembanyama called the experience the “biggest learning moment of his life,” while revealing one aspect of the series caught him off guard.

“It surprised me that every game has the same scenario, every five games in the series have the same scenario, and how relentless we were in our mistakes, and they were in punishing them.”

Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

‘We Can’t Have This’ – Wembanyama Reflects on Loss to the New York Knicks

Reflecting on his first NBA Finals series, Wembanyama rued the missed opportunities his team had squandered to close out games.

“One of many things I learned is the margin of error is very, very thin,” he said. “Our domination stints were absolute. We absolutely, absolutely dominated for most of the series, but our mistakes are punished so hard… we can’t have ups and downs like this… the ups are okay, the downs… is the reason we lost.”

In Game 4, it looked nearly impossible for the Knicks to take the win with the score being 76-49 at the half. However, a legendary comeback meant that Spurs were left shocked at the final buzzer looking at a loss by just one point with a scoreline of 106-107 following OG Anunobys’s tip in with 1.2 seconds remaining on the clock.

That comeback ranks as one of the biggest to ever be achieved in the NBA Finals – surpassing the 2008 Boston Celtics’ 24-point comeback against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Wembanyama’s own form during the Finals was some way under par. During the series, he managed just 7.8 points in the final quarter of games. The Spurs needed far more from their star man in order to be competitive against such a tough opposition.

On the Knicks side, Jalen Brunson put on a clinic averaging 32.6 points per night and a series-leading 45 in the deciding game. Credit also needs to be given to Karl-Anthony Towns and his role in diminishing Wembanyama’s impact, holding the Frenchman to an FG% of 42.3%, a noticeable dip from his 51.2% average during the season.