Town manager Roy Keane admits that wages will be the biggest stumbling block if he tries to sign loan strike pair David Healy and Daryl Murphy from Sunderland on a permanent basis in the summer. Yesterday, Black Cats boss Steve Bruce said he would be willing to talk to the Blues about the duo moving to Portman Road on a full-time basis.

Keane said: “When you’ve got players on loan from the Premiership the issue is always their wages. I think the owner has been very good in terms of transfer fees, but wages are always going to be a problem.

“We’ve seen what’s happened to other clubs over the last few months and we’ve got to be very careful and I understand and respect the owner’s point of view on that 100%.

“We have to be very careful, as much as we’d like to sign these type of players, we have to be realistic.”

The Blues boss says the situation regarding wages was the same with Giovani Dos Santos last summer: “I thought Gio from Spurs last year was outstanding, but we couldn’t get him.

“I would have loved to have kept him, he was a top player, he was probably the man of the match in the two games when I was here last season, but there are pluses and minuses when you have loan players.”

Keane says no discussions have yet taken place about making Murphy and Healy permanent additions to his squad: “We won’t look at that until the end of the season. We’ve got to try and win some football matches and get away from the bottom of the table.

“And as much as we might keen on them we have to be respectful that they’re under contract to other clubs. Sometimes players come on here on loan and it’s a case of them just getting their match sharpness, they mightn’t see their long-term futures here.

“There’s plenty of work to be done on these potential deals. It’s not even crossed my mind, I’m just glad these players are here and are giving 100% for the football club.”

But overall, the duo have impressed their manager during their time at Portman Road: “Murph’s done very well. He’s got five goals in eight matches and is one behind our leading goalscorer, which tells you where our problems have been all season - we’ve not scored enough goals.

“We’re pleased with Murph and David Healy’s getting sharper. We’re pleased with the boys and I think it’s created a bit of sharpness in Pablo and Connor Wickham. There have been pluses from these lads coming in.

“But we’ve other strikers out on loan, Steady, Priskin, so it should be an interesting summer, I think.”

Photo: Action Images

utrechtblue added 09:58 - Mar 13 lisbie not even worthy of mention now? I would have thought the odd 100 000 pounds here and there - or 50 000 should be seen as essential to Keane's kitty. remember Sir Bobby saying he always spent the clubs money as if it were his own? Its so easy to just toss off these figures now 4 000 000 plus spent on fees and wages of Priskin and Martin alone by now. Roy's main weakness in the eyes of Sunderland fans was always his poor-average trading in the transfer market. It remains about the same level. Though I still have faith that he will get very close to his target within the 2 year time frame. How long did Burley need? Up the town. 3 points today a good game too I expect.

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PimsNumber1 added 10:14 - Mar 13 I cannot see what Keane is talking about when it comes to wages and fees. Seems like Marcus wont allow too many fees now , and a cap on wages . But lets look at martin as an example. Ok he is on a 4 year contract which was excessive. But say he cost 1.5 mill and he signs for 3 years then that fee is the equivalent of paying him 10k a week for the WHOLE 3 years . No wonder people like free transfers. So we are paying Priskin and Martin maybe 10k a week plus we have paid out at least 10k a week to get them here. So when Keane indicates he isnt so concerned about the fees , more the wages , why ? These sunderland pair may be on 25k a week so we will need Bruce to charge us say a million for the pair in fees and pay off their wages by 50% or more for the rest of their contracts , one plus for healy , two plus years for Murph . Then they would be in our rumoured top bracket of 12k a week. It all sounds a bit unlikely because Im sure they will prefer to rot in the reserves rather than take a 50% hit.

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DrJeckyll added 10:19 - Mar 13 Player: 'Boss, why is that bloke getting paid double what i am?' Boss: 'Because we didn't have to pay a transfer fee for him son'
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PimsNumber1 added 10:28 - Mar 13 yes true , but doesnt it mess up the wage structure and hack off the other players even though its not the free transfer`s fault
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sebitfc added 10:47 - Mar 13 stead, counago, murphy and healy should be our 4 strikers next season with wickham in reserve.
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Blueknight85 added 10:50 - Mar 13 Because you can get a fee back
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PimsNumber1 added 12:17 - Mar 13 well there wont be much of a fee coming back on our purchases like martin edwards priskin for starters
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leadbitter6 added 21:00 - Mar 13 pimsnumber1- i think ur name sums it up really, if u think that waste of space is number1 then not many ppl will take u seriously, yes fine, martin and priskin havent performed the way keane or the fans wud have want but both have talent to succeed at portman rd and they will, there buys for the future, not just for now.
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Juggsy added 17:20 - Mar 14 Haha, you throbber - Pimms No 1 is a drink and his name is obviously a play on it. :O
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ChambersM added 21:10 - Mar 14 dont really want healy on what hes shown so far, but murphy will be great keane, thanks :)
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TractorRoyNo1 added 22:24 - Mar 14 healy to earn in two weeks what i have to bust a gut for over 52 weeks - be serious!
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yorksblue added 16:29 - Mar 15 Just get rid of Lisbie, Stead, Priskin and Martin for starters. Anyone who wears yellow boots (Priskin @ Sheff Utd on sat) should never don a town shirt again. Happy for Murphy and Healy to stay. Then we may have a settled team at the start of the season, instead of this season's comedy show.
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