Keane has transfer blueprint
by Joseph Caron Dawe, 15 May 2008
Roy Keane has revealed that he already knows the players he wants to bring in, and get rid of, at Sunderland this summer.
The Irishman has drawn up a list of ‘five or six’ names which he wants to target in the off-season, and they are players who have top flight experience. That is something the former Manchester United captain desperately requires in his bid to improve on this season’s finish of 15th.
“I don’t expect to bring in the same amount of players as last year. I probably have five or six in mind, it’s a small list of targets,” Keane told the club’s official website.
“The majority of the players I’m interested in are very much players who have played a lot of games in The Premier League, that’s what our team has lacked.
“Look at the goals we have conceded at vital times, look at the way we started games slowly – it’s because we lacked vital experience.”
Keane added: “The group of players we’ve got will be stronger and wiser for next year, we have lacked experience this time around.”
In order to raise funds and make space for those acquisitions Keane will offload a series of players who he feels do not match his blueprint.
“There are few players we feel need to move on,” he said.
“I have a mindset of what a footballer should be and I try to set very high standards at the football club; whether it’s in the youth team, the reserves or the first team.
“If people haven’t got the same aims, it’s best if they move on.”
Meanwhile, the club have confirmed they will go on a pre-season tour to Portugal, where they will face Bwin Liga sides Sporting and Vitoria Setubal in the Albufeira Cup in July.