Sunderland’s bosses have given Roy Keane an £20m war chest as they back the former Man United star to keep them in the top flight.

The Black Cats are currently in the bottom three and chairman Niall Quinn has indicated that he is effectively ready to buy his way to safety by giving Keane a free reign to bring in players

Jonny Evans (Man Utd), Matt Taylor (Pompey) and Stelios Giannakopoulos (Bolton) are among the names rumoured to be on Keane’s wishlist.