Blues boss Roy Keane has confirmed that Alex Bruce, Owen Garvan and Jon Stead missed last night’s game at Bury to continue talks with Leeds United, Crystal Palace and Blackpool respectively. The Town manager says he is hopeful he will complete the signing of Sunderland keeper Márton Fülöp.

Fees have been agreed for the potentially outgoing trio and Keane says that the completion of the moves is down to the individuals involved: “That’s up to the players. Alex is talking to Leeds, Garvs has been talking to Palace, Jon Stead’s been speaking to a club today, Blackpool, but there’s another club as well.

“We gave them permission to speak to the clubs and it’s up to them to agree. I’m not really up to date on if they’ve signed or agreed anything.”

Last week the Town manager mentioned a potential loan signing, who he revealed was Black Cats keeper Fülöp with a permanent £750,000 deal having subsequently been agreed between the clubs.

Keane says that despite reports, the move could still go through with negotiations with his former team-mate Steve Bruce having been ongoing for some while: “We’ve been in talks, obviously Brucey mentioned it last week. I think I’ve spoken to Brucey more than my wife over the last month. I don’t think he’s too pleased with that and I’m certainly not.

“It’s dragging its heels a little, but it’ll come to a head in the next 24 or 48 hours. You’re always hopeful but you have to be wary until the player signs on the dotted line, but we have other targets, Brucey knows that.

”I think Márton wants to come, but the negotiations have to be done and sometimes these things take their time.”

Keane says the move for the Hungarian international is no comment on his current glovesmen: “I have to say I’m pleased with the two keepers we have, but I’ve always said we need three goalkeepers because we had a disaster last season with injuries and loan players coming in and out. I used five keepers last year and I certainly don’t want to be doing that again this year.

“Márton is one of two targets I have in mind and we’ll see over the next few days how things pan out. I have to say it changes by the hour, not by the day, by the hour.”

Keane has also dismissed reports linking the Blues with former Liverpool and Fulham defender Steve Finnan: “No, no news of Steve Finnan. We’ve got Jaime Peters, we’ve got Jack Ainsley, right-back is not an issue for me.

“We’re looking at the goalkeeper, we needed a left-back, it depends what happens with Garvs over the next few days whether we need another midfielder, and we’ve always said we might be looking at a striker, particularly if Steady goes and with Lisbie going to Millwall on loan."

Photo: Action Images

arc added 04:27 - Jul 29 Ach, I thought Bruce to Dirty Leeds was a done deal. Re. Keane's reference to five keepers last year as a justification for Fulop [add umlauts as necessary...]--I would prefer one keeper; three in the squad versus two, or four versus three, is not going to change the essential status of the number one, except in a bad way.
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Kieran_Knows added 05:31 - Jul 29 We might need a striker? Is he having me on? We DO need a striker!
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suffolksam added 06:54 - Jul 29 when i saw the headline trio i was hoping it was evans clegg and keane who were talking to these 3 clubs .. no such luck !
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mickeyjb added 07:43 - Jul 29 I agree, "might need a striker"!!!! Thats the understatement of the year. I guess I understand the logic behind the keeper now though, well the funding at least. If its a loan deal, surely if he fails to dislodge Murphy then he can go back to Sunderland, if he does then we pay 750k? or are we paying 750k to loan him?
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brittaniaman added 08:15 - Jul 29 IT does say permanent deal of 750k mickey
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bedsitfc added 08:28 - Jul 29 "right back not an issue for me" he will be wanting more experience in that position so his comment means "i am keeping tight lipped" about who. when roy says "might" we all know that means "we need".
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darkroonsitfc added 08:35 - Jul 29 I'm sorry but Roy Roy Roy WTF are you on about??? it would'nt of been 5 keepers if a)begovic's loan wasn't cancelled b)if you'd of given Shane Supple the chances that he clearly deserved!!! hmmm Might need a striker?????? he is talkin out of his rear end, we have Lisbie(gone-loan-millwall) Stead(going-Blackpool) Counago(out of favour) Priskin(crap/lack of confidence) Connor Wickham(injured) Ronan Murray(untried youth) Jon Walters(possibly going) so our striking options look rather limited, we cannot rely on 17 year old Wickham, there's no doubting the boy's ability/potential, but just look at what happened to Rooney when huge amounts of pressure to carry the team were placed upon him!!!!! lets get chopra and/or welbeck in!!!!!

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Blueknight85 added 08:57 - Jul 29 LOL darkroonsitfc...... if he had given shane supple the chances he deserved? supple retired before Keane had a chance to give him any chances... get your facts correct Supple also stated one of the reasons he was retireing was because of all the pansys in the squad that were happy sitting around on the bench and not putting the effort in during jim magiltons reign.

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tom_the_blue added 08:59 - Jul 29 I normally agree with what Keane says, although not in this case. I dont believe we are strong enough on the right hand side with Peters and Ainsley, though it is good to see Keane putting faith in our youngsters. We also desperatly need a striker, not 'might need' and that should be our no. 1 priority. He is right, though, that we need a central midfielder, especially if Garvan leaves.

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darkroonsitfc added 09:03 - Jul 29 lol my mistake, oooops but if Supple had of played more perhaps it would of changed his mind, he was clearly frustrated at 'keepers being brought in ahead of him, all back-ups deserve their chance to be number 1 but he was never given his chance, and he was clearly making the statement of not being one of these pansies happy to sit there and take money for not doing anything, but back to the point in hand, we need more strikers :D

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Doctor_Albran added 09:05 - Jul 29 Darkroonitfc, has hit the nail on the head, although not in making the point he wanted. We currently have 7 strikers on our books - 5 if you discount Murray (in development) and Walters (make shift striker) - hence why we can't get another striker in yet. A business does not pay 4 people to sit scratching their arse and then bring somebody else in to do their work, well if it does it won't be in business for long - Lisbie's gone, Stead should be out before the weekend, which will allow one striker to come in. Pabs and Priskin could be utilised as reserve/support strikers, either way they are going to be needed until wickham is fit.

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robdaful added 09:26 - Jul 29 As others have said "might we need a striker?" Keane is having a laugh?????? And another joke by Keane is the right back situation. “No, no news of Steve Finnan. We've got Jaime Peters, we've got Jack Ainsley, right-back is not an issue for me." It might not be an issue for you Keane but for us fans. That doesn't sound brilliant. We will have to put up with no natural RB when your gone if you go after the transfer window closes. I'm hoping Keane was actually hinting that a striker and RB are his top two priorties. And next two signings after Fulop.

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ramseyn added 09:32 - Jul 29 You can read whatever you like into these comments. I might personally interpret 'no news on steve finnan' completely differently to " I'm not interested in steve finnan". No news to me suggests still working on it but no update.
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robdaful added 09:32 - Jul 29 ^ i was mean't to type "we might need a striker?"
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OnlyOneSirBobby added 09:38 - Jul 29 im absolutely shocked by how much reaction the word "might" has caused on here!! You guys are unreal, for once could we have a news post that doesnt then have people having a go at keane....please, just once!! for what its worth, iv always liked peters at right back, so dont have a problem if we are left with him there (although finnan would have been v nice), fulop is a better keeper than what we have now so is an upgrade (although i dont think it was a need), and a striker we need, just because he added in the word might, doesnt mean hes not after one....its pretty pathetic all this anti-keane stuff. people are perfectly entitled to hold their opinions and i dont hold anything against those that voice their disapproval towards roy, but sometimes there is a limit, and getting all worked up because he said we might need a striker is IMHO...pathetic

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Youth added 09:39 - Jul 29 is it just me or getting shot of 3 out field players for a goal keeper is pretty stupid!
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ramseyn added 09:47 - Jul 29 Exactly sir bobby. What manager do you know who says "I'm going after so and so and then I'm targetting such and such". So many people moan about us paying over the odds for players, what exactly do you expect from negotiations when you declare your hand. I'd like a poker game against some if you that's for sure!
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SMS added 09:58 - Jul 29 Our squad is full of absolute gash (Trotter, Garvan, Stead, Lisbe, Bruce etc, etc) and Keane is getting rid of it all. Agree we need some players to come in but please don't be so naive to think that the club doesn't know this. ME, SC and Keane all know but deals take time to complete. It's just that players are leaving quicker than they are coming in. Of all the players that are going, not one of them is or should be in the starting line up. If we was to sell Chuck, Leadbetter, Wickham, or. No i'm stuck. They are the only three players who I would be disappointed if they left and if Wickham left for 10 mill we would have to deal with it. Be frustrated with the lack of players coming in, not the crap that is leaving and it is clear that Keane is as frustrated as us. We have been poor for a long time with very average players (6-7 years) and it will take Keane time (maybe longer than this season) to get rid of the rubbish. We weren't pretty last season but we were super unlucky too. Keep the faith. COYB

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MarkITFC added 10:00 - Jul 29 WHY Garvan ?? are only creative player .. i was looking forward to start of season but i can see this being a shambels , no wickham which means we have no chance of scoring , norris is out , Luca is out again ! .
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ramseyn added 10:07 - Jul 29 Markeyboy, would like to warn everybody, wickham isn't gonna play every game or score 20 goals this season. People are placing far too much pressure on him. And Norris is back for Saturday and Luca is out for ten days. Let's have some sanity. Give it until window closes, then if we've not added to the squad......panic. But not before.
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Lightningboy added 10:28 - Jul 29 Sadly/depressingly the only good thing about this current mess is that it'll mean keane's departure will come sooner rather than later because I can't see us getting more than a win or two in the first couple of months. Is this what Marcus Evans had in mind when he took over?
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SiBo added 10:49 - Jul 29 Wake up guys! RK's use of the word "might" should be taken as a very promising sign and not a negative one... Honest, just think about it... rumours have it that we have agreed a fee for Chopra, but talks have stalled at the personal terms negotiations. He wants more than we are prepared to give him. (Whatever that might be) So we are still negotiating... our position was strengthend last week with the revelations that cardiff are deferring part of the players wages/bonuses, which obviously weakens Chopra's bargaining position... The last thing RK wants to do is come out and say "We are desperate for a striker, we must get one in now... etc" As it would weaken our bargaining position. Using the word "might" simply gives the message that we are cool about the whole thing and you (Chopra or whoever else we may be in discussions with) do not hold the "nuts" hand and all the bargaining power. Thye other way at looking at it... The Chopra deal has folded and is a dead duck. RK has been told to use what he's got... he needs to "beef up" the confidence of is current players, so he uses the word "might2 to suggest he's happy with what he's got and his only concern is the injury to Wickham... (Less likely... I hope!) But all this drivel over the use of the word "might" is frankly crazy when you consider the potential positions we are in behind the scenes.

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DrJeckyll added 11:06 - Jul 29 Sibo, unfortunately mate you are wasting your time trying to have a reasoned conversation with some of those who post on here. Their thinking is extremely one dimensional. Football is all about differing opinions and i have had some fantastic conversations with people whose opinion is contrary to mine, but then their opinions have been reasoned and based on fact. A lot of those who post on here seem to be incapable of this.

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SiBo added 11:34 - Jul 29 Dr Jeckyll: But it won't stop me trying... Like you I enjoy a good discussion with opposing views (Just ask my wife!), but like you prefer a reasoned discussion.
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gibbo added 11:48 - Jul 29 It's not only the strikers we have lost/losing this season but we have not replaced the one's we lost last season or had on loan, Healy, Murphy, Hayes, Clarke, Bowditch & Rhodes.
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