[Legend killer]

Fergie talking on sky sports in the 2004

He is my best player. It's not just the quality of his game, it is also his influence and great determination. There are a lot of parts to making a great player - he has fulfilled them all."

Van the man on Keane

Roy will always be remembered as the greatest player who's played for the club. His leadership and quality of play and his character will always be within us, because I worked with him and trained with him for four and a half years and he was the best player I ever played with

David Beckham talking to PA Sport on Keane's departure from Manchester United

He is a player who will lead from the front and get a team going. He is also a player who will tell you when you have done something wrong and something right. You know where you stand with him, he'll tell you in his own special way. I think he had one of the biggest impacts on a club anyone could have. The players responded to him in every game. I am shocked he has left because I thought he would be there for a few more years, but he has made his decision and everyone will respect that. People now have to look at what he has done with Manchester United because in the last 12 years he has won everything there is to win in club football. He has done it, gaining respect from so many players that he has played with and against.”

Former midfield adversary and ex-Arsenal player Patrick Viera in December 2008 when asked name the best player he ever played against

For me, being in England for nine years, I would have said Roy Keane

Bobby Charlton

as a player and a competitor [Keane is] the nearest I've seen in my lifetime to Duncan Edwards to put into perspective Bobby though Edwards was better then Pele

Alan Hansen

"[Keane] was in a class of his own in his peak...the best player the Premiership has seen

Stam

Keane is an incredible player, a real one-off whose name would be the first on the team-sheet of any side. It's not just the fact that he wins every tackle, or the way he can drive a team on with his powerful running, and snappy passing; with Roy there's something more, a desperation to win that drags the whole team with him"

The feud between the Fergie and Keane may have soured Fergie view of him but it cannot change what has been said in the past