Man Utd legend Keane reveals he ‘agreed’ Juventus move while Italian admits he is ‘appreciated’
Stick to Football has been enjoyable since first airing in September 2023, but followers have grown tired at the constant Manchester United-related guests.
Listeners however, will have been pleased to see Italian football legend Giorgio Chiellini speak on the latest episode as Gary Neville, Ian Wright, Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher hit the road for The Overlap on Tour.
Despite leaving Juventus in 2022, the defender only retired last season having played the final year of his trophy-laden career in the MLS for LA FC.
Chiellini spoke of his fondness for Keane, even arriving in a retro United shirt with the midfielder’s name on the back, before asking the former Republic of Ireland international to sign it. We’re not too sure Keane would ever ask for a signed shirt of somebody else.
Chiellini also told Keane how ‘appreciated’ he is in Italy after his heroics in the 1999 Champions League semi final against Juventus, en route to United’s famous treble.
United were 2-0 down early into the first half at the Stadio delle Alpi before Keane spearheaded a miraculous comeback, scoring a header in the 24th minute.
In response to Chiellini’s kind words, Keane revealed: “I nearly came to Juventus, I agreed a deal to come in 2000. The contract was up, so I’d agreed a deal with Juventus and Bayern and a few others.” He joked: “Gary (Neville) didn’t want me to leave United.”
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Keane played 480 times for United between 1993 and 2005, before departing on a sour note with then manager Sir Alex Ferguson with the pair of them falling out due to contractual issues. It’s unknown whether the duo have since made up, though Keane hasn’t held the Scot in high regard when speaking about him publicly.
In his time at Old Trafford, Keane won seven Premier League titles, four FA Cup’s and one Champions League, captaining the side from 1997 until he departed.
Keane can often be seen on Sky Sports and ITV now as a pundit blasting the current age of footballers, though Stick to Football shows the soft, humorous side of the tough tackler.
Previous guests of the show have included Wayne Rooney, Peter Schmeichel and former Premier League referee Howard Webb, to which fans on social media joked was also a United player.
Former United players are quite active in the podcast space with Neville and Keane’s former teammate Rio Ferdinand also presenting his own podcast, Rio Ferdinand Presents and Rio Meets.
Recent guests on Ferdinand’s podcast have included Cristiano Ronaldo, Patrice Evra, David Beckham and Nemanja Vidic.
