Roy Keane had no qualms judging Arsenal's dramatic fall from grace as they are rumoured to be interested in signing Leicester City's James Maddison.
One of Keane's fiercest rivals during his days as Manchester United captain, Arsenal have fallen some way short of the standing they held in those years.
Frequent challengers for the Premier League during a good portion of Arsene Wenger's tenure in charge, it has been five years since Arsenal finished a season in the top-4 positions.
As such, rumours that James Maddison may trade Leicester City for the North London club gave Roy Keane cause to take a shot at their demise.
🔊 SOUND ON 🔊
Roy Keane on rumours linking James Maddison to Arsenal 👀#LEIMCI pic.twitter.com/2qKfFSlC0z— ITV Football (@itvfootball) August 7, 2021
"Arsenal are a huge club," he said in response to a point made by club legend Ian Wright on ITV's coverage of the Community Shield between Manchester City and Leicester City.
"But I don't think it is a step up for him to leave Leicester where they are to go to Arsenal."
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When pushed on whether it would at least be a sideways step, Keane offered his estimation of where Arsenal are going under Mikel Arteta.
"It is probably backwards," he claimed. "At this moment in time, Leicester are trying to challenge for the Champions League [places], they won a trophy last year.
"Arsenal are short yet."
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