Keane relieved to have McShane

Sunderland manager Roy Keane has expressed his relief at having Paul McShane on board for the club's pre-season tour of Ireland.

TheCorkman tied up the deal for the former West Brom defender last night and thinks the 21-year-old from Wicklow has all the attributes needed to succeed at the Stadium of Light.

"I know Paul from his younger days at United and I keep saying that I'm looking for characters to come to the football club," Keane told a press conference in Dublin this afternoon. "Paul is certainly a character.

"Thank God the deal was done yesterday as I was keen to have Paul on the tour. He's a winner and a tough lad and he will definitely add something to us.

"When we spoke to him he was very excited about coming to the club and that plays a major part when signing any player,"  added Keane.

McShane was signed for €2.24 million and joins Russell Anderson, Kieran Richardson, Michael Chopra, Dickson Etuhu and Greg Halford in a recruitment drive that has cost the club about €22.4 million.

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has hit out at his big-spending Premier League counterparts for artificially inflating the transfer market.

Quinn believes middle and low-ranking top-flight clubs are paying way over the odds for players, and singled out West Ham and Portsmouth as the chief culprits.

He said: "There's six or seven new owners who are spending money, but are they getting the type of player that the top four want? I don't think so.

"The agents are having an absolute 'beano'. It's like a property market, where estate agents own half the property or, in West Ham's case, it looks like all the property."

The first of Sunderland's three friendlies in Ireland is against Bohemians in Dalymount Park tomorrow evening.

The Premiership outfit will then face Cork City in Turner's Cross on Monday and Galway United in Terryland Park on Wednesday.

Quinn says the club are "honoured to bring Sunderland on this summer tour of Ireland.

"There's a marvellous feeling of goodwill between Sunderland and the Irish public and this trip will complement the progress at the Club since Drumaville's takeover last summer."