Roy Keane says Premier League icon and one-time Sir Alex Ferguson transfer target Paolo Di Canio would have been ‘decent’ at Manchester United.
Old Trafford legend Fergie tried to sign Di Canio midway through the 2001-02 season but was turned down by the Italian forward.
Di Canio later said he felt ‘big and strong’ when being pursued by Manchester United but could not leave his West Ham ‘family’ after they handed him a lifeline following the ‘worst moment’ of his career.
West Ham paid £1.5m to sign Di Canio from Sheffield Wednesday in January 1999, just a few months after he was given an 11-match ban and fined £10,000 for pushing referee Paul Alcock to the ground.
Di Canio spent four years at West Ham, scoring 47 goals in 118 Premier League games, before spending another year at fellow English top-flight club Charlton Athletic.
Just a few weeks after being approached by Sir Alex Ferguson about a move to United, Di Canio scored a famous winner against the Red Devils in the FA Cup.
‘Di Canio nearly came to Man United, didn’t he? They tried to sign him in January I think,’ Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher said on The Overlap.
Ex-Manchester United captain Keane responded: ‘You know what? He probably would have been decent at United.
‘He scored that goal in the cup at Old Trafford where Nev played him on-side. Nev kept his hand up for about eight minutes. We kicked off and Nev still had his hand up.’
Ian Wright also agreed that Di Canio could have been a star at Old Trafford, saying: ‘He would’ve been Cantona-esque, wouldn’t he? He was so skilful, what a skilful player.’
Manchester United hero Gary Neville added: ‘Our boss [Alex Ferguson] liked him.’
Reflecting on his decision to snub Premier League giants United, Di Canio told Sky Sports’ Transfer Talk podcast: ‘I thought it was a joke, I thought it was my friend from Italy.
‘My stomach went a bit because it makes you think you have underestimated yourself, that you are bigger than what you thought.
‘Man United call you, try to persuade you to move because they want you. For a couple of minutes, you feel big and strong.
‘It was strange for me to say no to Sir Alex. I said “thanks, 1000 times thanks, but I can’t. West Ham are the family that warmed to me in the worst moment in my life, I’m the skipper, I can’t.”
‘He told me, “Paolo, respect for this, I love people that think in this way. You are the man that I thought you were.”
‘In the end, I remained at West Ham and I don’t have regrets about it, even if United became the best, won the Champions League, winning the leagues.
‘I would never change winning those leagues for the four and a half years I wore the West Ham shirt.’
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