Rio Ferdinand has shared his reaction to what Roy Keane has said about one specific Manchester City player recently.
Since the end of the previous international break, the Citizens have played three big Premier League games against Arsenal, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.
During this period, one particular City player has been the topic of discussion after one pundit shared some significant criticism for him.
Now, Ferdinand has weighed in on the matter, putting in his two cents on the situation.
Ferdinand reacts to Keane comments on under-fire City star
Speaking on TNT Sports in the build-up to City’s 4-2 win over Crystal Palace, Ferdinand had this to say about Keane’s comments from last weekend likening Erling Haaland to a League Two player after his performance in the 0-0 draw against Arsenal.
He said: “I think Roy Keane has got a bit of previous with the family so you can’t take too much of what he said. I think Division Two is a bit far fetched but I do believe that his all-round game isn’t as good as a Harry Kane.
“His all-round game is nowhere near as good as Harry Kane but this guy wasn’t brought in here to link up play and be a playmaker. He was brought here to finish off the chances created by the playmakers, that’s his game.
“We’ve watched him countless times and sometimes he has 10, 11 touches, scores a goal. He doesn’t get disheartened by having minimal touches in the game of having bad touches, his game isn’t built around that.
“Whenever you’ve seen him as a kid growing up and coming through the stages at [Borussia] Dortmund etc, it’s all about running in on goal and scoring goals, that is him and I don’t think that changes. Other clubs need a number nine that can do more things.
“Pep has set up a side that has got people that can conduct and create behind him, other teams need a number nine that can be a bit more all-action and bring more to the table.”
Since City paid £51m to sign the striker back in the 2022 summer transfer window, he has scored 82 goals in 89 appearances across all competitions, breaking numerous records throughout his debut campaign with the Blues.
As Ferdinand mentioned, Haaland has only had 481 touches of the ball in the Premier League this season from 24 games prior to today’s victory against Palace, one of the lowest in the entire squad.
In our view, the fact that the Norwegian has still managed to score 19 goals this season from having a fairly low average of touches per game says to us that he is able to step up when in matters in most scenarios, making him a vital figure for the team.