10 Greatest Foreign Premier League Players Of All Time

4. Roy Keane

Has there been a more inspirational player in the history of the Premier League? It would be hard to think of anymore more so. For over a decade he was United's manager on the pitch, accepting nothing less than perfection from his teammates and producing endless influential displays along the way. He made the move to Old Trafford from Nottingham Forest in 1993, and he was rightfully regarded as one of the most exciting young central midfielders around. The £3.75m paid for him was a British transfer record at the time. Although he wasn't necessarily guaranteed a regular starting berth straight away, injury to United legend Bryan Robson meant he played a lot. From that point on he was one of the first names on Ferguson's team-sheet. In 1997 Keane was made United's new captain, following Cantona's retirement, and by this point he was in and approaching his prime. No midfielder got the better of him, and his box-to-box style was extremely effective. The former Republic of Ireland skipper was actually very underrated in terms of technical ability. A serious injury ruled Keane out for much of the 1997/98 campaign, and he was missed enormously as Arsenal triumphed ahead of them in the title race. He led his side to an incredible treble the year after, however, and United also won three Premier League titles in a row under his captaincy, between 1998 and 2001. He eventually left the club in 2005 following a fallout with Ferguson, but he had achieved an incredible amount of success. Seven Premier Leagues, four FA Cups and a Champions League was an amazing return for one of the games most intense, passionate characters of all time.