Peter Crouch has a brilliant anecdote about Roy Keane | OneFootball

Peter Crouch is the humble king of not taking yourself too seriously, but there was a point in his career when even he needed taking down a peg or two.

The Stoke City striker has amassed an impressive 461 Premier League appearances during his career and is about to release a memoir titled ‘How to Be a Footballer’.

And speaking to The Times, the 37-year-old has recalled the moment former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane reminded him he was getting too big for his boots.

In 2005, 24-year-old England regular Crouch celebrated his move from Southampton to Liverpool by treating himself to an Aston Martin.

“A little voice deep down keeps telling me that an Aston Martin isn’t really me, but a louder voice is telling me that as an England international playing up front for Liverpool, the old rules no longer apply,” he said.

“Big voice: Peter, you’ve never looked cooler. Little voice: Peter, you’re a monstrous bellend.”

One day, Crouch pulled up at some traffic lights in his fancy new car and noticed that the driver next to him was none other than midfield hard-man Keane.

“I give him a nod. I give him a wink. I may even point my index finger at him and make a clicking sound at the same time,” he continues.

“All of it saying, you and me, eh, Roy? Same game, same level. In it together. Rivals, yet friends who just haven’t met before. All right, Roy?”

A look of sheer disgust crossed Keane’s face and he shook his head before returning his gaze to the road ahead of him.

“And when the lights change and he drives off without a backward glance,” adds Crouch.

“I’m left there with the handbrake on and an awful realisation: ‘Oh my God, I’ve become one of those twats.’

“I looked at him, gave him a little wink, thought, ‘Yeah, he knows what I’m about.’ I genuinely had a wake-up call. It only took one look from Roy Keane.

“I sold the car that same week.”

We’re probably all guilty of getting ideas above our station at some point but unfortunately, we don’t all have somebody like Roy Keane to put us in our place.