Five greatest captains of the Premier League era

5. Roy Keane

When Cantona announced his retirement out of the blue in 1997, there was only one man that wanted it more than anybody else. And that one man, was Roy Keane, who went to captain one of the most successful club sides of his generation. He was the player that everybody in the team respected and was an inspiration to every single player in the dressing room. He is the club’s most successful captain in terms of trophies won.

The Irishman was the captain of a United side, which won an unprecedented treble in the 1998/99 season and also went onto win three consecutive Premier League titles. But, arguably his finest hour was not in the League, but in Europe, when he, even after knowing that he wouldn’t take part in the final, covered every blade of grass to inspire United to a famous victory in Turin in the semi-final of the 1999 Champions League.

And that is why, whilst there might be better players, there is no better captain than him, in the history of the Premier League.