Keane ready to tackle pro licence

RELENTLESS Roy Keane will this summer begin to tackle his UEFA pro licence.

As well as preparing his Sunderland squad for the Premiership in what promises to be a hectic close season, Keane will start working towards the top coaching qualification.

Every Premiership boss must hold the pro licence by 2010 and Keane, who already has the ‘A’ and ‘B’ badges, said: “I’ve got a busy summer. I’m on two coaching courses and hopefully I’ll squeeze in a holiday somewhere!

“I’m enrolled on the pro licence. It’s part of the process and got to be done. I want to get it because I think the knowledge will be important to me.

“I’ve said to one or two of my players that they should get the ball rolling and get on these courses. Lots of players when they retire find that they have to go on them.

“But if they already have the badges, then if a job comes up they can go for it. Like me last year here, I had a couple of badges in place and I didn’t have to go running around like a mad man trying to get on these courses. I started doing them three or four years ago when I was at Man United.”

Meanwhile, Keane is reported to have made a £2m bid for Bolton Wanderers keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

The 32-year-old Finn only has a year left on his contract at the Reebok and there have been no talks over a new deal. Jaaskelainen is also a target for Aston Villa and West Ham.

But Keane is understood to have cooled his interest in Blackburn Rovers defender Andy Todd.

Rovers boss Mark Hughes has told Todd, 32 he can leave Ewood Park and he has been offered to Sunderland. But it is believed Keane is now pursuing other defensive targets.