“Could’ve done more…” – Roy Keane names Man United star who didn’t fulfil potential

Former Manchester United Roy Keane believes that one of his old teammates “could’ve done more” to sustain a better career in football.

Keane, 52, joined United in the summer of 1993 and became one of the club’s most loved legends across his 12-year stay at Old Trafford.

The ex-midfielder is known for his harsh and straightforward criticism when on punditry duty. Although he was full of praise for two United players after their 3-0 win against West Ham last weekend.

That doesn’t exclude former teammates either, and Keane has recently discussed the career of good friend Lee Sharpe.

Sharpe, 52, joined the Old Trafford club from Torque United in 1988 and made over 200 appearances in his six-year stay at United.

The tricky left winger played an important part when United won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1991. Sharpe also won three Premier League titles with the club.

However, the emergence of Ryan Giggs on the flank was the start of the end of Sharpe’s career at the club, who also had difficulties with manager Sir Alex Ferguson at the time.

Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Keane said: “Lee Sharpe was quite laid back, but he was a good guy.

“Maybe he would be the first to admit that he had little success in his career but could have done more if he tried harder. I think he would be honest enough to say that because he was so laid back and had the manager on his case all the time.

“But then he went up to Leeds and got a bad injury, but I think overall, I think Sharpie would admit that he could have done more in his career, but he didn’t have that real hunger and desire to maintain a high standard over a long period of time.”

Sharp would snap a cruciate ligament in his knee ahead of the 1997/98 campaign, only a year after joining Leeds United.

Reports suggested that George Graham, manager at Elland Road then, would not make things easy for injured players. Keane knew that Sharpe had a problem with Ferguson by the end of his United tenure.

The 52-year-old pundit explained: “With managers giving players tough love, I remember seeing an interview recently with Lee Sharpe, and he really loved his football and off the field he had fun as well, especially with his dancing, but he said towards the end of his time at Manchester United, when Sir Alex Ferguson was having a go at him, he said that he just stopped listening.”