Crunch time for Keane as Black Cats hunt €20m Spurs quartet

ROY KEANE has admitted the next few weeks could be vital for the future of his Sunderland vision as he attempts to push home his summer transfer plans.

It emerged last night that the Black Cats had tabled a series of bids — understood to amount to around £16 million (€20m) in total — for Tottenham quartet Steed Malbranque, Pascal Chimbonda, Younes Kaboul and Teemu Tainio.

Keane, who revealed this week he is yet to sit down with a single transfer target to attempt to sell the club to them, was awaiting developments as he jetted off with his current players on a pre-season trip to Portugal.

However, whatever happens over the next 48 hours or so, the Irishman knows the weeks before the new Premier League season gets underway are crucial.

He said: “I thought last year was very important, but this summer, the next two or three weeks is a vital part for Sunderland, for the club’s future and my future.

“That’s why it’s vital the squad gets the improvement we need. Since we kicked a ball at the end of the last season, we have lost three players, Kenwyne (Jones), (loan signing) Jonny (Evans) and Paul (McShane) — and we were short last year.

“It is an important few weeks for the football club for the future, without a shadow of a doubt.”

The extent of Jones’ knee ligament injury will become clearer when he visits his surgeon within the next three weeks, but he is likely to miss at least the first two months of the season.

Keane has pursued a series of strikers this summer, during which he has been linked with Spurs’ Darren Bent, Everton’s Andrew Johnson and Manchester United’s Louis Saha.

But with McShane out after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured kneecap and Evans back at Old Trafford, efforts to strengthen at the back are equally pressing.

French full-back Chimbonda, who has also been heavily linked with Everton, and Kaboul, who joined Tottenham in a £7m (€8.8m) move from Auxerre last summer, would fit the bill.

However, the African’s agent Rudy Raba has delivered a swift blow to Sunderland’s hopes of landing him.

He said: “Younes will definitely not be going to Sunderland, and that’s it.

“We won’t change our decision, he won’t go there. It’s finished.”

Whether the Wearsiders take no for an answer remains to be seen, with Spurs ready to do business on all four men as they trail Blackburn midfielder David Bentley.

Malbranque and Tainio would add strength to a midfield which at times last season, included strikers Michael Chopra and Daryl Murphy playing out of position.

Keane has admitted he has not got the £50m (€63m) to spend which had been suggested would be at his disposal this summer, but is still determined to significantly improve a squad which managed to finish 15th last season.

He said: “We want to do better and I believe we will if we get decent players.

“But it is obviously going to be tough having lost Kenwyne, Jonny and Paul.”