Former Republic of Ireland captain Roy Keane almost quit football altogether considering his recent injury woe was so serious, it was claimed by Manchester United today.
United have revealed the full extent of their captain's fitness problems in an effort to head off speculation that manager Alex Ferguson was the major influence behind Keane's international U-turn, which was confirmed yesterday.
After a meeting last week, new Republic of Ireland boss Brian Kerr believed he had Keane's agreement for a return to the international fold ahead of next month's European Championship double-header against Georgia and Albania.
Instead, Kerr arrived at yesterday's Under-21 clash with Scotland to be told Keane had reversed his decision, announcing to RTE that his retirement from the international scene had become permanent.
Having already hinted that would be his own preferred course of action, Ferguson was pinpointed as the guiding force behind the move.
However, Ferguson insists that was not the case and an official United statement confirmed the question marks which hung over Keane's entire career when the decision was made for him to undergo hip surgery at the beginning of September.
"The orthopaedic surgeon said it was a serious, potentially career-threatening injury," explained the club missive.
"The possibility of retirement from the game was discussed but Roy decided that this was not the course of action he wanted to take."
United profess to be pleased with the player's recovery but an Old Trafford medical team including Dr Mike Stone and physio Rob Swire were sufficiently concerned about the damage extra international fixtures could cause to rule out the prospect of a return altogether.
"With slow and very careful rehabilitation, Roy has made a good recovery from surgery," added the statement.
"It is self-evident that being able to give Roy periods of rest if his hip becomes a problem is likely to prolong his career. This is possible within a club situation.
"The break he gets during international games can only be of benefit to him. From a strictly medical viewpoint, once the decision to continue playing was taken, any way of limiting the number of games he plays is in Roy's best interests."
"This is a straightforward medical decision regarding Roy's long-term ability to play," Ferguson told the Manchester Evening News. "It has nothing to do with me.
"I'd have liked him to play for Ireland. After the situation that had arisen at the World Cup we all wanted him to play for Ireland again."