I’m a Manchester United star and Roy Keane was an idol but I would never go near him if I saw him

There are not many players in the world of football who have crossed the border between two major cities. But Aoife Mannion did it.

The 28-year-old – who grew up a Birmingham City fan – began her senior career with rivals Aston Villa, before joining her beloved Blues in 2013.

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A move to Manchester City followed in 2019, but two years later Mannion crossed the divide again by signing for City’s main rivals Man United.

It was a courageous move on Mannion’s part that typifies his personality on the field.

And it’s no surprise that the versatile defender admired no-nonsense characters when she was growing up.

“There are probably three players in particular,” she explains exclusively to talkSPORT.

“I was a Birmingham City fan and I remember seeing Robbie Savage rushing up the pitch, getting stuck in tackles (and being) very hard in the tackle and that spoke to me as a player and I I really liked it. His hair was a little longer, so he looked a little different, so I liked him.

“I loved Roy Keane for United and Ireland and then Karen Carney went to the same primary (and) secondary school as me and to see her do what she did, I found that really inspiring.

“I’ve never met him (Roy Keane) but I think if I saw him out there I would just respect him from afar. They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes, so I don’t think I would approach him, I’ve seen him!

It’s been a tough couple of years for Mannion due to injury, with the defender rupturing her ACL in 2022, which ruled her out for almost a year.

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To make matters worse, she also tore her quad in September, which kept her sidelined for five months.

Fortunately, the 28-year-old is enjoying her football again and she played the full 90 minutes as Man United beat Chelsea for the first time recently to advance to next month’s Women’s FA Cup final.

And if the Red Devils manage to defeat Tottenham at Wembley, she will be able to emulate her idol Keane by lifting the FA Cup at the football stadium.