Roy Keane is a leader, not a number 2, says ‘Guvnor’ Paul Ince

When the call came from Alex Ferguson, Paul Ince was on the golf course playing against Ryan Giggs.

“One up on the 16th,” he still likes to point out, even though the incident happened all of 20 years ago. His manager was waiting for him in the clubhouse with the news that, with Nicky Butt on the rise, Manchester United had decided to accept a bid from Inter Milan for the self-styled ‘Guvnor’. But later, according to Ince, Ferguson had a change of heart.

“On the day I left, he actually rang me from Colorado Springs and said, ‘I’ve made a mistake, I want you to stay’. But I had (Inter president) Massimo Moratti in my kitchen — true story — about to sign a five-year deal. I said, ‘No, sorry boss, I’ve got people here from Inter Milan.’ It was all done and dusted.”