'Last-season' Keane amazed by Rooney, Ronaldo

Roy Keane has admitted he still gets baffled by the training ground trickery of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Manchester United captain used a live MUTV phone-in to stun his club last night by revealing he thought this season would be his last at Old Trafford.

But, while Alex Ferguson and the Red Devils camp attempt to come to terms with the impending loss of their talisman, Keane has claimed the club is in safe hands as long as Rooney and Ronaldo are around.

“Those two were destined to play for Manchester United,” he said.

“I still can’t work out some of the stuff they do on the training ground in terms of their skills and tricks. That is what the fans come to see.

“I have a lot of time for Cristiano. He is an outstanding player and the fans love him and hopefully it will be the same with Wayne over the next few years. I do wish people would ease off them both a bit because they are young lads who are still learning the game.

“They both have a lot of individual flair but the priority is winning trophies and we will see the real benefits over the next couple of years.”

While Rooney and Ronaldo should both be involved in tomorrow’s Premiership encounter with Fulham, Keane will be missing, a legacy of the broken foot he picked up at Anfield a fortnight ago.

And, if Keane’s prediction comes to pass, it seems there will not be many more United appearances at all for the 34-year-old, whose current contract expires in the summer.

“I would like to play another year or two but I do not think it will be at Manchester United,” he said.

“I would be surprised if I was offered a new contract and even if I was, I would not expect it to be until the end of the season, but by then I will have already made a decision about what I am going to do.

“There comes a time for everybody when they have to move on and I am prepared to play elsewhere.

“I think it will be good to experience a different dressing room. It wouldn’t be an English team though, coming back to Old Trafford and going into the away dressing room would be too hard for me to stomach.”

The last statement is bound to alert Celtic, as Keane has made no secret of his desire to play for the Parkhead club at some stage in his career.

When the Cork-born player first mooted his intention to quit this summer in the middle of last season, he immediately received a telephone call from Alex Ferguson informing him the Scot would be the man who decides when the midfielder will sever his ties with Old Trafford.

Ferguson’s position is not likely to have changed. Indeed, he will probably be reeling at last night’s announcement.

But the harsh reality is if Keane is offered a new deal, it would almost certainly be for one year only and then on a pay-per-play basis, whereas Celtic would almost certainly offer a better overall deal.

Keane’s departure has also been anticipated within the United hierarchy. One very senior Old Trafford official confided in private recently that the player may move away, before eventually returning to join the coaching staff.

“I am not putting a gun to anybody’s head,” said Keane.

“But my gut reaction last season was this would be my last year and I still feel that way. You have to learn and be prepared to move on. Life will not stop when I leave Manchester United.

“It might be an opportunity to go into management or coaching somewhere else and it is best to make a clean break because coaching at Manchester United doesn’t really appeal.”