I was taken to Pizza Express by Roy Keane who tried to persuade me to sign for Sunderland but I knew we would not get on

MIDO once deep panned Roy Keane after revealing all about the meal that persuaded him never to play for the Manchester United legend.

No amount of dough would have persuaded the Egypt striker to sign after the then-Sunderland manager invited him to Pizza Express in 2006 for what he thought would be a friendly “come and join us” chat.

Mido, who was with Spurs at the time, said Keane “didn’t talk much” – and he would “end up fighting” with the former Republic of Ireland legend if he played under him.

Ex-Ajax and Marseille star Mido told talkSPORT how he couldn’t wait to dessert his less-than-topping dining experience with Keane.

So instead he left Tottenham for a three-year spell with Sunderland‘s North East rivals Middlesbrough.

The now 40-year-old said: “My agent Mino Raiola said, ‘Mido, Roy Keane wants to have lunch with you and show you the training ground’.

“So I went to Newcastle airport. He came to pick me up in his Range Rover, we went to Sunderland and he took me to lunch to Pizza Express.

“I was very surprised that he didn’t talk to me much.

“Normally you get a player for lunch, you try to talk to him and try to convince him to sign for your club, but he didn’t talk much, he was just very quiet.

“I knew straight away that me and him, we could not work together, we would end up fighting. He was talking to me and looking at the ceiling.

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“I knew straight away that it would not work.”

Ultimately, Keane’s managerial career crumbled – after two-year spells with Sunderland and Ipswich.

Mido has grabbed a slice of the managerial action himself – with four Egyptian clubs before taking over Saudi Arabia’s Al-Wehda Club in December 2018.

He was most recently in charge Egyptian side El Makkasa, but was sacked in 2020 after just six months in charge.