'Roy Keane Said I Wasn't Good Enough - Now I Could Win the Ballon d'Or'

Summary The 30 players nominated for the 2025 Ballon d'Or have been revealed.

One player in the top 30 was once heavenly criticised for Roy Keane who said he 'wasn't good enough.'

Now, the player has become one of the best in his league and has an outside chance of winning the trophy.

Football has changed a lot over time, and while that means some tactics or styles of play can start to feel a bit predictable, there are still moments where certain players come out of nowhere and completely thrive in a system – almost like they were made for it – and suddenly become global stars.

Look at Ousmane Dembele. The French winger has been part of some of the biggest clubs in the world for most of his career — whether it was Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, or now Paris Saint-Germain – but he’s never quite hit the level many expected from him. That is, until the 2024/25 season. Now, after years of waiting for him to explode, he’s finally putting it all together, and despite never having been in the Ballon d’Or conversation before, he’s suddenly the frontrunner to win the whole thing.

While that transformation into what could soon be officially the best player in the world is one thing, the journey that one outcast who caught the ire of Roy Keane has undergone is perhaps an even more shocking turn of events, as he finds himself among the nominees for the 2025 golden ball.

Scott McTominay's Rise to Ballon d'Or Contender

The Scot was criticised at Manchester United by Keane

Heading into the 2024/25 season, Scott McTominay had completed his most successful campaign individually for Manchester United. While the team as a collective had performed significantly worse under Erik ten Hag than in the Dutchman's first season in charge, McTominay had proven he could produce the goods in key moments, scoring important goals against Liverpool, Aston Villa and a stoppage-time double in a dramatic comeback winner against Brentford.

Despite that, question marks over his ability persisted, particularly when it came to his role in a double pivot. One of his fiercest critics was club legend Keane. The Irishman wasn't shy on being vocal about his feelings either, particularly when it came to the partnership the Scot had alongside Fred in the midfield, saying in 2022.

"The decision-making and the football intelligence, in particular from Fred - and I've said this for a long time - Fred and McTominay are not good enough. They won't get Manchester United back competing at the top. We see it week in, week out. [They are] not up to it."

GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Fred and McTominay, played 126 times together at Manchester United.

In response, McTominay first fired back verbally, saying "People talk. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and you have to respect that," the Scot said as per The Mirror.

"But I’m not going to spit my dummy out and cry over ­something Roy Keane says. If that’s what he thinks, then that’s what he thinks.

"For me, it isn’t a drama. I’d be a fool if I went home worrying about what people think about me."

Scott McTominay's Transformation at Napoli

The midfielder had a season to remember in Italy

McTominay would eventually leave his boyhood club after their pre-season tour in 2024, joining Napoli in a £25 million deal. He immediately hit the ground running, producing good early performances for Antonio Conte, and from there he never let up. In the end, the Naples outfit would secure the Serie A title on the final day of the season after a year-long battle with defending champions Inter Milan.

McTominay would be crowned the league's MVP, capping off what had been a simply remarkable campaign that hardly anyone could've predicted and making him most certainly one of the best British players abroad.

Interestingly, as a result of the change in fortune, Keane's opinion of him also shifted. Rather than blaming the player, he reflected on the Scot's time at United and suggested that, rather than it being McTominay's shortcomings that caused the problem, it was purely a result of his partnership with Fred.

"What didn't help Scott was that it was him and Fred together," the iconic United skipper argued in May 2025.

"It just wasn’t a good combo. I know Ole praises both of them, which is beyond me - I always thought there was something in Scott. He had more than Fred going on, but as a partnership, it didn’t work; it wasn’t happening, United weren’t competing in midfield.

"It tarnished him a little bit, 'McFred' wasn’t it. He’s added to his game, to be fair to him. He’s always had a goal in him, but he’s got that up to another level. If he wasn’t scoring the goals at Napoli, we wouldn’t be talking about him."

All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt - accurate as of 10/08/2025

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