"RYAN GIGGS WILL BE WORTH £2b IN THE PRESENT MARKET"; SAYS KEANE.

Roy Keane is astonished by the “mind-boggling” transfer fees in this window and claims there has never been a better time to be a footballer.

Brazilian star Neymar joined PSG from Barcelona for a world record fee of £199 million.

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho claimed that was “not expensive” because of the commercial gains the French giants would make.

But at the same time, Mourinho feared it would drive up the price of ordinary players to eye-watering levels.

Asked today what the players he soldiered alongside would be worth now, Keane said: “Ruud (van Nistelrooy) would be worth a billion. Beckham, a billion. Giggsy, two billion.”

And Roy Keane? “3.75 million,” he laughed, the then British record fee that Manchester United paid Nottingham Forest for in 1993.

Keane continued: “It’s mind-boggling, it really is. The figures out there now for players, it’s not the player’s fault, it’s the market, the market value of players. It’s mind-boggling.

“Especially for the average players. If ever there’s a time to be a professional footballer, it’s now - average players are going for £35m. My goodness.

“The really brilliant players are going for big money. When average players are going for £30m-£40m, it does make you scratch your head.”

During an interview with Daily Mail in 2014, Roy Keane expressed his regret at taking part in a documentary in which he picked his greatest Manchester United XI from former team-mates, and left out Ryan Giggs in his squad.

The Cork man spent 12 years at Old Trafford and was captain of the side which won the historic Treble in 1999.

ROY KEANE'S UNITED XI
GK: Peter Schmeichel
RB: Paul Parker
CB: Gary Pallister
CB: Jaap Stam
LB: Denis Irwin
RM: David Beckham
CM: Paul Ince
CM: Roy Keane
LM: Cristiano Ronaldo
ST: Eric Cantona
ST: Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

'That programme is not something I'm entirely happy that I've done,' Keane said. 'Whether people liked it or not, I felt uncomfortable picking my best XI.

'I felt embarrassed leaving players out. I feel like I disrespected my teammates. And if you asked me to name my best XI now, well I wouldn't do it, first of all.

But if I did, there'd probably be three or four changes.'