Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira has moved to end the debate involving himself and former Manchester United captain Roy Keane once and for all.
During the late 90s and the first half of the 00s the battle for Premier League dominance was often contested by the Gunners and the Red Devils and with so much at stake, it usually resulted in hostile clashes at Highbury and Old Trafford that sometimes spilled into the dugout between Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson.
But on the pitch, these fixtures were mostly defined by the Vieira vs Keane battle. A classic example of just how intense things were was on display in January 2005 as the latter attempted to confront the former in the tunnel before kick-off in response to an incident involving Gary Neville a few minutes earlier.
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Since then, though, the pair have buried the hatchet. They have done punditry duty for major tournaments together and Keane even treated Vieira to an ice cream once - a sight that the Crystal Palace manager admits surprised supporters who had seen the one-time rivals out together.
"We were walking back to the hotel and went to an ice cream shop, some fans saw and couldn't believe it was Roy and myself walking around eating ice cream together," he told Sky Sports' Saturday Social. "He was the one who paid, the better player never paid so he was the one who had to pay for the ice cream."
But what won't come as a shock is Vieira's respect for Keane which came about immediately upon his arrival in England from AC Milan in 1996: "From the first game, I knew straight away that it will be a fight in every single game," he told BT Sports' 'What I Wore' YouTube series.
"I love the way he was on the field, there’s a massive respect and he was the leader, captain of the team, he was the one who was driving the team and the players to compete at the level. He was pushing the players and I admire him as a captain and I knew that will be one of the battles to try to win.
With that said, Vieira couldn't resist one little dig at Keane by saying: "Much better, yes. I will say much better" when asked who is the better player out of the pair.
Having joked about not wanting to touch a Man United shirt, Vieira recalled those classic battles against the Red Devils, revealing the motivation behind getting the better of Ferguson's side.
"That’s why I put my hand in the pocket, I don’t want to touch the shirt (laughs). They were the best team, they were the team to beat so if you wanted to win the league you have to be above United so that was passion, that was continuous," he added. "I don’t want to use the word hate but it was love and hate."
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