CELTIC GO THROUGH HOOPS TO GET THEIR MAN

"There has been a lot of nonsense written about what I was supposed to have said.

"I want to push my team-mates hard, but people were up for that up until a few months ago.

"I have not come up here on an ego trip or to unwind. I am here to win matches.

"I am a team player despite a lot of reports. I feel I can help the club move on to the next level which is winning trophies.

"That is what I am in the game for. I am not necessarily in the game to be popular.

"I like pushing myself and the people around me hard but there seems to be a fault with that in the modern day.

"I was contracted to Manchester United and I was convinced up to last year I would end my career there but things change.

"I had a great time at Manchester United - they are a fantastic club.

"If you had told me again I would spend 10-and-a-half years there I would be lucky.

"The manager was great to me there but our relationship came to an end.

"It was very amicable and we shook hands and wished each other well.

"United will go on and life will go on and Roy Keane will go on.

"I wish everyone well at United they are a fantastic club.

“I gave every club a chance — I spoke to all the managers, I spoke to Madrid up to as near as Tuesday.

“Madrid explained to me that they were maybe looking to wait another week, which is fair enough."

The Guardian:

"They've nothing to fear," he said of his new colleagues. "I'm very much a team player, despite some reports. I like playing hard, training hard, pushing myself, pushing the people I work with. In the modern day there seems to be a fault with that. But that's what I do. And I've never asked a team-mate to do something I wouldn't do myself. [laughing] I'm sure the other players will love me."

As Gordon Strachan eulogised about adding one of "the world's best competitors" to Celtic's payroll, Keane confirmed that he had spoken at length to Real Madrid as well as Bolton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion and Everton. Madrid's interest had sorely tempted him, with their sporting director Emilio Butragueño making a personal call to him on Tuesday. "Over the phone is not really my cup of tea," Keane explained, pointing out that he had had a two-hour meeting with Strachan in London a fortnight ago. "Madrid wanted to wait another week but I wasn't prepared to. He understood that and was very amicable."

Of the interest from the three Premiership clubs, he added: "They all handled themselves brilliantly. I was impressed by all their managers and I feel like I have let one or two down. But you can't please everybody, I learned that early in my career. There's no doubt in my mind I have made the right decision."

Keane did not go into the finer details of his departure from Old Trafford but he did confess that he had envisaged spending the rest of his career at the club. He also confirmed that, having recovered from a broken toe, Ferguson suddenly pulled him out a reserve game against Liverpool on November 17. It was one of the defining moments in the breakdown of their relationship. "I was fit four weeks ago," said Keane, who will wear the No16 shirt at Celtic. "It's been frustrating as I was up and running."

Without mentioning Ferguson by name, there were several thinly disguised references to the man he once regarded as his mentor. "I push myself hard every day and I push my team-mates hard. People were quite happy with that until a few months ago but then things change and you have to move on. I had 12 happy years at Manchester United, a fantastic club. I was very lucky and the manager was great to me, but we'd come to the end. The relationship we had came to an end."

Keane has signed an 18-month contract and plans to complete his coaching qualifications next summer. Celtic's chief executive Peter Lawwel made it clear early in the press conference that Dermot Desmond, the club's majority shareholder, had not financed any part of the deal. Strachan also had a point to make, reacting angrily over rumours the board had sanctioned the transfer without his authority.

"It was too good an opportunity to turn down."