Manchester United legend Roy Keane recently showed an old contract during his time at Manchester United on a podcast program, revealing his salary at that time.
The Irishman is one of the most successful captains in Manchester United's history. He won numerous honors with the team from 1993 to 2005 and spent a brilliant twelve seasons. Keane won 17 trophies at Manchester United, including 7 Premier League titles and 1 Champions League title. His YouTube partner Gary Neville also served as Manchester United captain, winning 21 trophies in his career and achieving remarkable achievements.
Despite its legendary status, the two have far less income than that of contemporary top stars. In the latest Stick to Football podcast, Keane and Neville reveal the income status of Sir Ferguson during his coaching period.
Keane said to Neville, Carragher, Jill Scott and Ian Wright: "I found a few old contracts...you can take a look."
Neville looked through the contract and found that Keane had signed multiple agreements at the same time: "You signed in 2000 for an annual salary of 950,000 pounds and a weekly salary of 20,000 pounds."
"This is just the basic salary... Let's look at the one signed in 2003. There was also a contract with an annual salary of 2.75 million pounds between 2000 and 2003."
And one of the contracts signed in 1999 showed that Keane received a signing fee of 4 million pounds, which was paid in installments of 1 million pounds per year.
But what is even more shocking is the special concessions made by Manchester United to Keane and his family. The terms of the contract show that Manchester United needs to provide Keane's family with round-trip flights between Manchester and Cork, Ireland: "The club will provide 20 Manchester/Cock/Manchester round-trip flights each year for players, spouses and children, and will be valid from July 1, 2002." The contract also clarifies the terms of players playing for the national team: "The club should allow players to participate in the national representative events of their selected national teams in accordance with the principles of cooperation between FIFA Member Association and the club." The contract is not completely biased towards players, and Keane also promises to fulfill the club's obligations, including providing reasonable assistance to Manchester United's official media MUTV. Ironically, it was his severe criticism of his teammates during an interview with MUTV that led to his final departure. Another clause of the contract stipulates that he must cooperate with interviews and filming activities without restrictions.
Kean also agrees that Manchester United has the right to sell merchandise using its name, nickname, signature, image, sound, image interpretation and other features.
In contrast, Neville said that he had never participated in contract negotiations too much: "I never bargain with the club and sign directly. I don't care about this at all."
And Keane's last contract also included a signing fee of £1 million, which raised the contract's total revenue in the first year to £3.75 million.
Nevil pointed out that his basic salary actually dropped, and Keane joked: "As old, the incentive clauses have to be more played to ensure that he can play."
Even so, Keane's annual salary in the last year was still almost twice that of Neville's last year (£2.3 million).
Carrag took the opportunity to joke with Neville: "That's right, but Keane's contribution is three times that of yours!"