Desmond not underwriting Roy’s wages

CELTIC shareholder Dermot Desmond yesterday refuted suggestions that he would be personally underwriting a huge chunk of Roy Keane’s reputed £40,000 salary at Parkhead.

“I want Roy Keane but I want Celtic to pay for him,” said Desmond. “That’s not true that I’m paying some of his wages. I’ve been hearing that all day, but it’s incorrect.”

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell echoed Desmond’s point at the press conference which unveiled Keane as a Celtic player:

“Dermot Desmond has been a fantastic supporter of this transaction. But in terms of his support that is where it started and ended. There is no financial contribution Dermot will make towards this deal.”

Desmond said Keane was “a player all Celtic fans wanted to play for the club. It was the manager’s decision, the board’s decision to go after Roy Keane.

“Gordon Strachan’s comfortable with Roy, Roy’s comfortable Gordon, I’m confident of that.”

Asked if he felt the Celtic team would be uneasy with Keane, Desmond said: “Absolutely not. Good players want good players around them. Roy Keane can bring so much to Celtic, and if he can bring the experience he gained with Manchester United then Celtic will be better off with him.

“If you ask Manchester United players - and I’ve met them - they’ve got the highest respect for Roy Keane. As for speaking out, in the main he spoke out with the approval and on the instructions of the manager.”

Desmond said he hoped the former United captain would stay at Celtic beyond 2007.

“We’ve signed him for 18 months and hopefully it’ll continue after that and Roy will be playing at 37 or 38.

“We’re top of the league at the moment and we hope that’ll be maintained and that we’ll reach the Champions League. Roy would be a huge asset.”

Desmond said the Corkman had left “a lot of money on a lot of tables for love of Celtic” and that he hoped Keane would respect Gordon Strachan and his team-mates.

Celtic captain Neil Lennon insists he will be able to play alongside Keane.

“We are quite similar but that was said about Paul Lambert and myself a few years back. He is great signing and we will welcome him with open arms.”