Cagey Kaboul content to keep Keane’s Black Cats waiting

SUNDERLAND boss Roy Keane is keeping his fingers crossed as he awaits an answer from defender Younes Kaboul after Aston Villa finally showed their hand.

The Corkonian could have been forgiven for thinking he had all but landed the Morocco-born Frenchman when he indicated his intention to head for Wearside yesterday to undergo a medical and discuss personal terms.

However, Villa are understood to have registered their interest after a week of speculation since the Black Cats tabled their joint bid for Kaboul, Teemu Tainio, Pascal Chimbonda and Steed Malbranque.

The former Auxerre man has now asked for another 24 hours to consider his future, and Keane will have to wait to see whether or not Martin O’Neill gets the chance to sell his own vision to the player.

Yesterday’s development should perhaps come as no surprise – Kaboul’s agent Rudy Raba insisted a week ago that there was no chance of his client moving to Sunderland, even in the event of an earthquake, while Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp revealed his own hopes of signing the defender looked likely to be dashed by Villa.

However, Raba quickly backtracked on his initial response after the Spurs man travelled to the north-east to hold talks with Keane last Saturday, and emerged impressed by what he had heard.

To date, only Tainio of the White Hart Lane four has signed for the Black Cats, the 28-year-old Finnish midfielder penning a three-year deal earlier this week.

Chimbonda is expected to follow within days after responding warmly to Keane’s offer of employment, although there has been no word publicly from the Malbranque camp.

But Keane will hope his powers of persuasion could yet do the trick with Kaboul as he attempts to push through a quadruple swoop which would cost his club a total of around £16million (€20m) in transfer fees.

Meanwhile Sunderland midfielder Dwight Yorke could miss the rest of the club’s pre-season campaign after suffering a suspected fractured cheekbone.

The 36-year-old, who signed a new one-year contract earlier this summer, was hurt in a collision with goalkeeper Nikola Milojevic in Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw with Vitoria de Setubal in Portugal.

It was initially hoped the former Manchester United star had only suffered bruising, but he will now undergo X-rays with medical staff fearing the worst.

Manager Keane said: “We thought it was just a bang on the head, but there could be a fracture there, around his eye.

“He will be out for a number of weeks.”