Gary 'Spike' O'Sullivan has offered to train Roy Keane for a potential "million pound" fight with long-time rival Jason McAteer.

Keane and McAteer's long-running feud reignited recently when Keane said McAteer "deserved" the elbow he swung at him before being sent off against Sunderland two decades ago, while McAteer responded on social media by calling Keane a "clown."

When asked about the rivalry on beIN Sports at the weekend, McAteer expressed his desire to "let bygones be bygones" and move on from his feud with Keane amicably.

READ MORE: Jason McAteer throws down "million quid" challenge to Roy Keane for boxing scrap as he sends message to Eddie Hearn

Failing that, he joked that a "million pound" boxing bout between the two could be promoted by Eddie Hearn with the winner taking bragging rights forever.

While Keane has recently revealed that he was a handy enough boxer in his youth, the Manchester United legend will need some guidance and in former WBO Intercontinental Middleweight Champion O'Sullivan, he has an eager teacher.

"I'll gladly train Keano for this. I'm sure we'll manage to batter @MCATEER4 and might even squeeze a sneaky elbow or two in there before Keano delivers the ko blow," wrote O'Sullivan on X.

While the feud has simmered for years, it came back into the public's consciousness last week when Keane slammed McAteer on The Overlap's 'Stick to Football' podcast, where he opened up on his red card against McAteer.

When asked by podcast host Gary Neville about the incident, Keane stated that McAteer "deserved it."

"Sent off in injury time in a one-all draw for elbowing Jason McAteer, following a number of heated exchanges throughout the game," Neville read aloud before Keane bluntly replied "He deserved that."

Neville then says McAteer was Keane's teammate before the Corkman replied "I wouldn't go that far."

When asked by Jill Scott whether Keane and McAteer were mates, Keane said "Absolutely not."

"Just because you play with someone doesn't mean you're mates. Do you know what, he was one of these players who shout their mouths off.

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"I didn't mind lads kicking me or booting me, honestly, but McAteer as usual had plenty to say for himself. But even then, I didn't deserve to be sent off in that game, absolutely not.

Roy Keane is held by Referee Uriah Rennie after an incident with Jason McAteer
Roy Keane is held by Referee Uriah Rennie after an incident with Jason McAteer

"If you look back on it, I didn't even catch him."

When asked about Keane's comments, McAteer said: "Yeah," said McAteer when asked if he was tired of the feud, "I'd rather him come in here now and we just go 'let's let bygones be bygones' Let's just be civil.

"Or, we could get in the ring for a million pounds each and fight it out. Eddie (Hearn), if you're watching... Eddie Hearn, get him on the phone.

"But Roy, come on, be better than that. And I promise I'll stop reacting."

While clearly being tongue-in-cheek, McAteer should be careful what he wishes for given Keane's recent admission that he was a tidy enough undefeated boxer in his youth.

Gary 'Spike' O'Sullivan

In the presence of none other than Eddie Hearn himself, Keane said: "When I was a kid when I was 11 or 12 years of age just for a few years as you do when you're back in Ireland to keep out of trouble.

"My brother had about 50 amateur fights but had about four fights. I was unbeaten, you know what I mean. It was great, brilliant when you were younger with training, I loved everything about it and the discipline.

"These lads going into the right to fight and their mindset."

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