'Why only me?' - Ex-£3m Sunderland and Wigan Athletic player puzzled by Roy Keane criticism

Pascal Chimbonda has challenged Roy Keane’s comments regarding their time together at Sunderland.

The Frenchman signed for Sunderland under Keane for around £3million back in 2008 but didn't see eye-to-eye with his manager and was sold back to Tottenham Hotspur just a year later. The right-back then enjoyed stints at Blackburn Rovers, Queen's Park Rangers and Doncaster Rovers before enjoying stints at North East clubs Carlisle United, Washington and Ashington Town.

On a recent episode of The Overlap, Keane stated that signing Chimbonda had been a mistake due to various factors. However, the former right-back has responded to the criticism from his former boss.

“When he said, earlier this year, that signing me was a bad choice, I didn't understand it, to be honest,” Chimbonda said. “First of all, he called me to tell me he wanted me to come and play for Sunderland. Why did he do that, if people told him beforehand that it might not have been a good idea to sign me?

“You signed me because you know I'm a good footballer and maybe I could've done something special for you at Sunderland. Things didn't go how he would have wanted because obviously he got sacked, you know. And then afterwards, he said he'd made a bad decision in signing me. 

“He signed so many players that summer, but he said that I was the bad choice. Why only me? I don't understand... he signed El Hadji Diouf, he signed Djibril Cisse, he signed Steed Malbranque, he signed Teemu Tainio... he signed so many players, but the one person who has to take the blame is me?” He was speaking at Ladbrokes Fanzone's North London Derby mural.