Roy Keane left out Lionel Messi and Pele when naming the three greatest players in football history

When Manchester United legend Roy Keane talked about naming his top three players in football history, he left out the likes of Lionel Messi and Pele.

Keane scored 51 goals in 480 appearances for United as he captained one of the Old Trafford club’s greatest eras of success under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Keane won seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups and the Champions League as part of the treble won in 1999.

During his career for club and country, Keane faced some of the best talents the game has produced and once named his three favorite players in Premier League history in his opinion.

Keane named former United attackers Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney in the trio, with the former Republic of Ireland international dressing with both players at Old Trafford in the early stages of their careers after moving to United from Sporting and Everton respectively. Had shared the room.

And Keane also pointed to Arsenal legend Thierry Henry as the third player to make his list from the Premier League era.

He told Sky Sports: “I’ve definitely gone with Ronaldo, I’ve been watching players in the Premier League and I’ve gone with Ronaldo, Rooney and Thierry Henry.

“Those are three who I thought were fantastic players.”

But then Keane was asked by Jamie Carragher to extend it to players not just in the Premier League but in football history of all time – and neither Pele nor Messi were mentioned.

Instead, Keane chose Ronaldo, Diego Maradona and Zinedine Zidane.

He said: “The players I would go with would be Maradona – Maradona has to be there.

“Ronaldo and I would probably say Zidane has to be there. I thought he was amazing.

“I was lucky enough to play against him – brilliant player, scrappy, scored goals, won big awards, he was hard to beat.”

Keane faced Zidane for the first time at club level when United faced Juventus and Real Madrid, as well as on the international stage when the Republic of Ireland faced France.

Ronaldo has five Ballon d’Ors, won league titles in England, Italy and Spain and five Champions League titles, while the late Maradona led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup victory.

The late Pele won three World Cups with Brazil, while Messi has claimed the Ballon d’Or eight times after winning countless trophies with Barcelona, ​​and emulated Maradona when he won the World Cup in 2022.