Australia’s Sydney FC said on Thursday that talks are under way with English Championship outfit Sunderland that could see Dwight Yorke reunited with former Manchester United teammate Roy Keane.
Yorke (34) is contracted to the A-League champions for another year but the striker has been repeatedly linked to the English club in the lead up to the Australian season, which began last week.
Sydney FC chairperson Tim Parker said the club is negotiating Yorke’s future with Sunderland, where Keane took over as manager this week.
”There are conversations going on at the moment but there’s no resolution,” Parker told Australian Associated Press.
”We don’t like to talk when there are no facts, we’ll have facts soon and then we’ll talk about it.”
Yorke and Keane played together in the Manchester United side that won the European Cup in 1999, although Keane missed the final through suspension.
Keane has vowed to curb his firebrand streak while attempting to guide the Black Cats back to the Premiership, while Yorke, who has belied his playboy image in Sydney, was instrumental in last year’s title as he shouldered the role of skipper.
Yorke also impressed with Trinidad and Tobago at the World Cup finals in Germany this year and Sydney’s new manager, former England defender Terry Butcher, said this month that he wanted to keep him at the club.
However, Sunderland have reportedly offered Yorke $1,5-million, significantly more than the $900 000 he is believed to earn at Sydney.
As negotiations continued, Yorke did not travel to Melbourne with his Sydney teammates for a weekend A-League match.
Yorke was the A-League’s highest-profile player in its inaugural season and Butcher said his departure will be a major loss to both the club and the league, which is still establishing itself in a highly competitive market.
He said Keane wants to sign his former teammate before the English transfer window closes this week.
”Sunderland are not in the Premiership now but they have ambitions to go back up,” he said.
”It’s only because of Roy Keane’s appointment [as Sunderland manager] in the last day and a half that interest has finally materialised.” — AFP
