The Irishman ignored his own claims and those of bitter Arsenal rival Patrick Vieira when coming to his decision at a press conference in Dublin yesterday.

“If you look at the players in the England midfield, I would have to say Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes are by far the best midfielders and are consistent in what they bring to their teams,” he said.

“To me they are the three probably most outstanding midfielders, not just in England but probably in Europe. There are some good midfielders at Barcelona as well, but I would say those three.”

Keane was especially fulsome in his praise of Gerrard, who has been strongly linked with an end-of-season move to Premiership leaders Chelsea.

“He is an outstanding player, he has had enough compliments over the years,” Keane said. “It helps when you are on a winning team and I think Liverpool probably aren’t playing as well as they can.

“It is a lot of pressure on one player when you think Liverpool is a big club. It is a bit unfair on him and I think sometimes when he is not playing particularly well the team suffers.

“Whereas I am on a team where, especially with the system we play at the moment, I have two lads on either side of me that can do a lot of running for me.

“As you get a bit older you tend to use your brain a little more,” he added.

Keane yesterday revealed he may prolong his career at Old Trafford when his current contract ends – just days after insisting he would retire next year.

The 33-year-old midfielder said on Friday he would hang up his boots at the end of next season but has since had further discussions with United boss Alex Ferguson.

“If this time next year my body is holding up and my hip is okay, and the knee, and Alex Ferguson and Carlos Queiroz and Micky Phelan probably feel I can still contribute to the team then who knows?” said Keane.

The United captain joked: “The manager pulled me aside on the Saturday morning and said that he will be the one deciding when I’m going to be retiring.”