31 March 2023 , 21:47
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Roy Keane "killed" Ruud van Nistelrooy for months about his long hair when he first joined Manchester United - eventually forcing the Dutchman to chop his barnet.
The forward moved to Old Trafford in 2001 at a time when Keane, then captain, was a major force in the dressing room. The Irishman's no nonsense stance helped keep the players in line and he quickly took aim at Van Nistelrooy for the length of his hair.
The Dutchman, who would go on to break Premier League records in his debut season, was adamant that Keane's grilling wouldn't force him down the barbers, but the relentlessness eventually made him u-turn and the striker, after receiving a barrage of abuse, had it cut.
He told Gary Neville on the Overlap : “Roy with my hair band, remember that? He killed me for four months! Remember when I came I had longer hair… and I put it in in training and went to the dressing room with the mirrors and put the hairband in and he was like, ‘F****** hell.
“I’d actually had enough of it and I cut my hair… I thought after one month I wasn’t going to cut my hair for this guy. Two months, every day for two months and then after three months… I took my hair band off.”
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Despite that Van Nistelrooy has spoken highly of how Keane led the playing group, even if it took some getting used to. He said: “For me, he was unbelievable. He was fantastic. He led the team. We all know stories about different players, different stories about him. For me, he led the team in an unbelievable way.”
Roy Keane constantly mocked Ruud van Nistelrooy when he first arrived in Manchester (Getty Images)Keane has been equally complimentary about the Dutchman, who was prolific during his spell in Manchester before eventually moving on to Real Madrid in 2006 after falling out of favour under Sir Alex Ferguson. Van Nistelrooy and Neville have also reminisced about a clash they had during a game against Middlesbrough, where they didn't exactly see eye-to-eye.
The right-back was angered that his striker didn't show for him when he had the ball, leading to an explicit verbal exchange between the pair. Neville joked: "Do you remember Middlesbrough away? You’re the only player that’s come to punch me at the end of the game."
He continued: "I remember I got substituted, I don’t remember if the manager got angry at me, but I went into the changing room and all of a sudden I heard you shouting coming through the door and you were like, ‘I’m going to…’ and I thought, ‘Oh, Ruud’s snapped!’ Everyone jumped in between us." Van Nistelrooy has since blamed a toe injury for his lack of movement, not that he told the manager.