Keane contract causes further anxiety

With just days to go to the start of the English FA Premiership programme, news leaking from the boardroom at Old Trafford suggests that Manchester United and their captain Roy Keane are still not an item.

Negotiations on a new contract for Keane, which are being conducted on the player's behalf by agent Michael Kennedy, are still said to be difficult if not wholly intractable.

Officially, the club is staying silent on a saga which, apart from their contentious decision to compete in the inaugural world club championship in Brazil in August, has demanded the attention of club chairman Martin Edwards for much of the summer.

Yet, Manchester United insiders acknowledge the anxiety the situation is provoking at the club. "It's a problem which we hoped would be sorted before the players came back for pre-season training," said one. "The longer it goes on the greater the pressure becomes. Nobody at the club wants to see Roy Keane leave, but a settlement has to be agreed within certain parameters."

With a year of his existing contract still to run and the point of no return unlikely to be reached until January, the time factor is not yet critical.

Many will find a contradiction in the current stalemate. With three major trophies on their sideboard, United are preparing to expand their empire still further as new frontiers open up for the people who market one of the world's most fashionable clubs.

To expand those interests in the Far East and North America, it is imperative that they continue to garner silverware. And central to that challenge is the presence of their inspirational midfielder.

Keane - tackling, scrapping, motivating - has fitted more snugly into the role of captaincy than even Alex Ferguson dared hope when he looked around for a replacement for the equally volatile Eric Cantana.

For all the diverse skills of players like David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Dwight Yorke, none has exerted as much influence as the Irishman.

To that extent, his on-going involvement in the Manchester United story is crucial. Frank Stapleton, the former Republic of Ireland and United striker, is one of those who believe that the interests of both parties would be best served by an announcement sooner rather than later.

"Rather than have the problem and the uncertainty drag on until the new year, I believe that the club should move to settle the matter," says Stapleton.

"At the end of the day they are going to have to pay to keep Roy at the club. Otherwise he can walk out as a free agent when his contract is up at the end of the season and by present day fees it's going to take anything up to £15 million to replace him.

"That's why it makes sense to get it over and done with now. The bottom line is that United need Keane - and he's not going to come any cheaper as time goes on."

From the perspective of the club directors, the priority is to hold the line at a time when football's new wealth is driving wage demands through the roof.

For all their success over the years, United have never been the biggest spenders. They now see in Keane's demands the outline of a dangerous precedent as more and more contracts come up for renewal over the next few years. There is also a belief that some of the younger players have it stipulated in their contracts that their wages must stay within range of the club's highest earner.

The Irishman's demands, said to amount to £40,000 a week (an increase of £16,000 on his current figure), would shatter the ceiling which Edwards reluctantly agreed to raise when Mark Bosnich signed as a replacement for Peter Schmeichel during the close season.

Yet, in the context of the big earners at other clubs, the new figure could scarcely be considered excessive. Profiting from the ramifications of the Bosman ruling, Frenchmen Marcel Desailly and Didier Deschamps are both paid £42,000 a week by Chelsea.

Even more surprising is that Duncan Ferguson, Newcastle's controversial signing from Everton, is paid £38,000 a week.

Compared to the £123,000 a week which Christian Vieri is reported to earn with Inter Milan, Keane's demands becomes more mundane still. But for the present, at least, it continues to stretch their rapport between United and their most influential player to something approaching break point.

Meanwhile, Alex Ferguson last night vowed to fight to overturn the life ban that has left one of Manchester United's promising young defenders with his career in ruins.

Ronnie Wallwork, 21, was banned sine die by the Belgian FA for attacking a referee. His United team-mate Danny Higginbotham, 20, was suspended for a year for his alleged part in the assault after a play-off match involving Antwerp, United's twin team in Belgium.

United intend to lodge a legal appeal against the decision and Ferguson threw his support behind the pair.

"I believe the players have been very harshly treated and the punishment does not fit the crime," he said.