Keane writes bhoy's own story

Celtic's biggest player was their biggest fan as a steamy night in Seville fanned the flames of his passion for the club

Madrid may have seemed like the perfect curtain call for a performer who has spent the best years of his life at the Theatre of Dreams, yet Roy Keane's mind was really made up in another part of Spain over two years ago. On a hot suffocating evening in Seville the Irishman discovered he had some soul brothers. Around 80,000 of them, in fact. That was the number of Celtic fans who turned up to watch their club's first European final in three decades.

Thanks to his connections, Keane was lucky enough to get a ticket for the 2003 Uefa Cup final. More than half of the Celtic fans who turned up in Seville did not and instead watched the 3-2 extra-time defeat by Porto in bars and on giant screens in parks. However, their passion to see their team win was undiluted, a trait Keane could empathise with. They just wanted to be there. Now Keane just wants to be there too.

The Manchester United icon eschewed Real Madrid, not to mention Everton and Bolton in the Premiership, to fulfil a dream to join Celtic when he signed on Thursday. Celtic Park, not the Bernebeu, is the real deal in Keane's piercing eyes. Could a man who makes his displeasure at imperfection known so visibly really have been happy at a place where waving handkerchiefs is considered the right way to signal dissatisfaction?

Keane did not phone his old United colleague, David Beckham, to consult him about Madrid. "I probably should've made the effort to speak to him over the past few days, but there was so much going on. I spoke to Emilio Butragueño [Real's director of football] the other morning and that was fine."

Keane's ambition to join Celtic has been a slow-burning one. It was not really formed during his childhood in Cork, but during his later years when he came up to Glasgow with some United team-mates, incognito, with his trademark baseball cap, to watch Old Firm games. Witnessing Celtic fans fill Old Trafford in 2001 for Ryan Giggs' testimonial before Martin O'Neill's side won 4-3 added a further sheen.

"I met a lot of Celtic fans when I was in Seville and I've always enjoyed that banter as I did at my previous club," Keane said. "I think it's important you don't lose touch with reality because again that has crept into the game a touch. I think fans have lost touch with the players and I think players are guilty of that as well.

"Seville was brilliant. I think I lost two stone that night because of the heat, but I think it was a great occasion. Not the result, but it was great that Celtic were even there after beating teams like Liverpool and challenging for a European trophy."

Keane, of course, famously, missed out on Manchester United's finest hour in 1999, as the European Cup was embraced. Suspension denied him the Champions' League final against Bayern Munich and he sat in the Nou Camp that night in his suit. So, would he love to recreate another magical European night? "That would be fantastic, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. Even when I'm not playing I want to help the players prepare as well as they can, the rest will take care of itself. Listen, I'm not here to go through the motions. I want to win and I want to do well in Europe next year.

"I've looked after myself better. It's only natural as you get older you get a bit of experience. When you're young you're a bit naïve and think you know everything. You get sidetracked by off-field issues, but I've focused on looking after myself."

One former Celtic player who came up against Keane in the Premiership believes that Gordon Strachan can feed off a hungry 34-year-old in the same way that Gérard Houllier enjoyed such a rich seam of triumph when Gary McAllister came to Liverpool at 36.

"Roy is leaner now than when I played against him for Middlesbrough a decade ago," said Derek Whyte, the former Scotland defender. "He has his life sorted and you can see how eager he is. Look at what McAllister brought to Liverpool at the same age. They won three trophies the season after and he scored in the Uefa Cup final. There is no reason why Roy cannot do that. This is not all just about selling shirts - he is a fantastic signing."

Celtic have certainly sold shirts on the back of Keane's arrival. The club reported that 20,000 flew out of their 13 shops in Scotland and Ireland on Thursday. Keane will not be pulling on a shirt himself today at Inverness in the Scottish Premier League. He cannot play for Celtic until 8 January, in the Scottish Cup against Clyde. Until then, he will watch - but not criticise.

"I really think the players will enjoy working with me, I really do," declared Keane. "When I left United, I didn't have a problem with the players. There was speculation in the media about what I'd said on video, it was just sheer nonsense. The players were all in agreement with what I said. Ask anyone I've played with from a schoolboy to United, I'm sure they all say they respected me even if they might not have liked me."

KEEN TO TALK ABOUT KEANE

"I had to find out if Roy was interested. I told him where I was going, he said he was up for it "

Gordon Strachan, Celtic Manager

"People may ask how we can have two 35-year-olds in midfield. I don't know if that is feasible "

Charlie Nicholas, Former Parkhead Striker