Sir Alex Ferguson didn't include them but Peter Schmeichel and Roy Keane were world class for Manchester United, says Gary Neville

Sir Alex Ferguson said he only had four world class players during his trophy-laden tenure at the club

Roy Keane and Peter Schmeichel - world class or not? (Getty Images)

Sir Alex Ferguson caused a stir last week when he stated in his new book that he only managed four world class players during his 27-year stay at Manchester United.

In the book, Leading, the 13-times winner of the Premier League stated that he believed only Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo fit the 'world class' bill.

There were some high profile absentees from that list with Ruud van Nistelrooy, David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Roy Keane and Peter Schmeichel among those that plenty would argue were world class performers for United.

Ferdinand even wrote a lengthy post on Facebook asking what is meant when we say 'world class'.

Gary Neville - a player who was among the best right-backs in the world during his time at Old Trafford and also has a case - agrees that his former manager's list was rather harsh and believes that Keane and Schmeichel especially should have been on that list - although he does dismiss the notion as "pub talk".

"The one that stood out for me is Peter Schmeichel," Neville said on Sky Sports. "He was definitely from my career at Manchester United a world-class goalkeeper. If he wasn't a world-class goalkeeper then I don't know what was. Roy Keane, as well."

Neville added that his definition would be that a player is world class if he has been the best player in his position at any time, before adding he didn't want to undermine his former boss.

He then said: "At the end of the day, it's people's opinion. This is just noise really, it's pub talk."