Keane: Not all agents are bad

The role of football agents has come under the spotlight again in the wake of the Wayne Rooney contract saga but Roy Keane insists there are good agents as well as bad.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has alluded to the involvement of agents in the Rooney deal, where the player said he wanted to leave the club before signing a new contract two days later.

Keane, the former United skipper who is now Ipswich manager, told Sky Sports News: “Like in any industry on the planet, there’s probably some good agents and some bad ones.

“It’s as simple as that. We’re all talking about the Wayne Rooney situation from last week. I think everyone’s fed up with it now.

“Agents are part of the game. They aren’t going to go away. Let’s not kid ourselves, there are some good agents out there.

“Some good lawyers and solicitors have got the players’ best interests at heart. There will be one or two agents that you’ll be wary of.

“I don’t really deal with them. I try and leave that to the chief executive and to the owner. I don’t try and get too involved.”

Nobody from the Association of Football Agents was available to comment.