A former striker who played under Roy Keane at Sunderland feels it would be “a really good thing” for the Manchester United legend to take over as the club’s manager.

Keane has not managed his own side since his spell at Ipswich in 2011. He’s not been a coach in any capacity since leaving the Nottingham Forest assistant’s job in 2019.

But he’s now oddly being touted to take over at United, where he won seven Premier League titles among other honours as a player.

Indeed, the club looks set to move on from current boss Michael Carrick, who has them 16th in the league, and has not won a game in all competitions in over a month.

Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann are the two names most heavily linked with the United job at the moment.

But Djibril Cisse, who played under Keane at Sunderland, feels he’d be a good hire for the Red Devils.

He told Mr Gamble: “Roy Keane has the weight of experience and history. He is a strong personality, and he’s an icon of the club.

“He wore the armband for so many years during United’s glory days, so bringing him back would be a really good thing.

“I really enjoyed working with him because he didn’t judge me on what he’d heard or what people might say about my character. He trusted me, it worked very well, and I was very disappointed when he left. He’s a coach I loved working with and whom I respect enormously.

“We’re quite similar. We’re honest, we say things straight, and once it’s said, we move on. We’re all in. When I do something, I do it properly. When I say something, I mean it. He’s like that too, and I really, really enjoyed my time with him.”

Eddie Howe the Man Utd favourite

Unsurprisingly, Keane has not been linked with taking over at United, given his time is largely spent as a pundit, and he’d surely encounter a lot of people he’s rubbed up the wrong way.

The aforementioned Howe is the preference to take over at Old Trafford, per our friends at TEAMtalk.

They state both the Englishman and his former assistants, Jason Tindall and Stephen Purches, would be willing to make the move to United together.

Beyond the former Newcastle boss, Nagelsmann, Antonio Conte, Fabian Hurzeler, Unai Emery and Cesc Fabregas are linked.

But with Howe currently unattached, meaning United wouldn’t have to pay any compensation and could be brought in pretty quickly, he’s a big attraction.