Rio Ferdinand jokes Roy Keane's 'far-fetched' claim that Erling Haaland is a 'League Two' player is because of the Man United legend's bitter feud with the Man City star's father

Rio Ferdinand has joked Roy Keane's recent comments about Erling Haaland may have been influenced by Keane's infamous feud with the Man City striker's dad.

Haaland struggled to make an impact as Pep Guardiola's side played out a 0-0 draw with title rivals Arsenal last weekend, and on punditry Keane offered a scathing assessment of his performance.

'The levels of his general play is so poor, and not just today, I think his general laying stuff off, headers, or whatever it might be in terms of front of goal is best in the world,' Keane said on Sky Sports' post-match coverage.

'But for his general play for such a player, it is so poor, not just today, I think he has to improve that he's almost like a League Two player.'

Speaking prior to City's clash with Crystal Palace on Saturday, Ferdinand joked Keane's comments may have exacerbated by his notorious rivalry with Alf-Inge Haaland.

'I think Roy Keane has got a bit of previous with the family so I can’t take too much of what he said.' The former United defender said on TNT Sports.

Like his son, the elder Haaland also spent time plying his trade on the blue side of Manchester and during his time there engaged in a bitter rivalry with Keane that is alleged to have led to his career coming to a premature end.

During a 2001 Manchester Derby, Keane was sent off for a brutal challenge that left the Norwegian suffering with ongoing knee issues, with an FA inquiry later launched after Keane claimed in his autobiography that he had intended on injuring Haaland.

Though Ferdinand was quick to dismiss his former teammate's 'League Two' comment, he insisted the former Borussia Dortmund star is a more limited forward than the likes of Harry Kane. 

'I don’t agree fully [with Keane] – division two is a bit far-fetched. He wouldn’t be as good as someone like Harry Kane,' he continued.

'His all-round game is nowhere near as good as Harry Kane. But this guy wasn’t brought in here to link play – he was brought in to finish off the chances created by the playmakers. That’s his game. 

'We’ve watched him countless times and sometimes he has 10, 11 touches and scores a goal. He doesn’t get disheartened by having minimal touches in the game or having a couple of bad touches. His game isn’t built around that.

‘Whatever you’ve seen of him as a kid or at Dortmund, it’s always been about running through and scoring goals. That is him and I don’t think that changes.'