Town boss Roy Keane is targeting Sunderland keeper Marton Fulop to compete with Brian Murphy and Arran Lee-Barrett for the Blues' number one shirt next season. Hungarian international Fulop was signed by Keane when he was manager at the Stadium of Light.

The 27-year-old, who has another year left on his Sunderland contract, started his career with MTK Hungaria during which time he went on loan to Elöre and Siófok, also in his homeland.

After a three-day trial in July 2004, the 6ft 5in tall keeper joined Spurs. In 2004/05 he spent time on loan at Chesterfield, then the following season joined Coventry on a similar basis.

In November 2006 he joined Sunderland, making his move to the Stadium of Light a permanent one in the following January for a fee of £900,000.

Fulop, who has won 20 Hungarian caps, moved on loan to Leicester in August 2007 and was expected to stay with the Foxes until the end of the season. However, after the clubs failed to agree a fee for his permanent move to the Walkers Stadium in the following January — Leicester offered £1 million, Sunderland wanted £3 million — he returned to Wearside.

In February 2008 he briefly joined Stoke on loan but was recalled after four days to cover an injury at Sunderland, however, the Potters and Black Cats agreed a £3 million fee that summer but the move eventually broke down.

This season Fulop, whose contract is up in the summer of 2011, has made only 14 appearances for the Black Cats with Craig Gordon currently the first choice and Trevor Carson the regular sub.

Last week, Fulop joined Manchester City on an emergency loan basis as cover for the injured Shay Given, making his debut in Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Aston Villa, but his move to Eastlands is not expected to stretch beyond the final games of the Premier League season.

The Wearsiders may well be willing to allow the Hungarian, who is a close friend of Town striker Tamás Priskin, to leave for a fee well below his previous valuation.

Blues boss Roy Keane has stated that he likes to have three keepers in his squad with Richard Wright departing in the summer.

Photo: Action Images

Redmond added 11:29 - May 4 Keane Is Turning This Club Into A Laughing Stock, NO MORE GOALKEEPERS
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RetroBlue added 11:31 - May 4 can understand RK going for another GK - Murphy looked very suspect on mon. RWright is expensive to keep on sidelines and is no better than Murphy tbh
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matt_the_blue added 11:34 - May 4 naa: I don't agree with the view that we don't need another keeper. The possibility of two keepers being injured at the same time isn't as low as some might think and having three in the squad builds in a bit of a safety buffer. I will agree with your point that it could be a youth keeper though, we shouldn't be shelling out on someone who could well be 3rd choice all season.

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naa added 11:38 - May 4 Well, exactly. I just meant that with the youth keeper we already have three. As soon as No. ! gets injured then you have two keepers. If another gets injured at the same time (highly unlikely, but possible) then you use the emergency loan system, as Man City have done. With the youth keeper we'll have 4 keepers, at least two of which will want to be the number 1. I'm not a fan of having keepers fight for the number 1 jersey, becuause a keeper brings stability to a defence, which you'd lose if they were changing all the time. But, yes this is just speculation. I guess it's easy for the press to link Roy with Sunderland players. Let's wait and see what actually happens before commenting. I promise I'll try.

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blueherts added 11:43 - May 4 Hey chaps - the rebuilding will start from the back !! Each day the press will speculate a position at a time - right back tomorrow _ who do you think it will be !!OK - that aside ....... I think Murphy will be a good keeper but this is a good experienced keeper that Murphy and ALB can learn from - I agree ( if it has any truth!!) We need about 6 more players
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Lightningboy added 11:45 - May 4 If we're after a keeper why don't we make an offer for kasper scmeichal?..good,young and his dad's mates with da gaffer.
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StavangerBlue added 11:51 - May 4 WHY NOT JUST USE SUNDERLAND'S RESERVE TEAM? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD CAN WE LOOK AT PLAYERS THAT ARE NOT IRISH, EX-MAN UTD REJECTS OR HAVE BEEN REJECTED BY SUNDERLAND? THERE IS A REASON HE'S NOT IN THE FIRST TEAM.
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brockleyblueboy added 11:51 - May 4 naa, did we just agree on something ;-)
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StavangerBlue added 11:52 - May 4 WHY NOT JUST USE SUNDERLAND'S RESERVE TEAM? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD CAN WE LOOK AT PLAYERS THAT ARE NOT IRISH, EX-MAN UTD REJECTS OR HAVE BEEN REJECTED BY SUNDERLAND? THERE IS A REASON HE'S NOT IN THE FIRST TEAM.
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Lightningboy added 12:09 - May 4 It's ok Stavangerblue..it'll all be over soon,give it another 6 months and the old place will be back to normal..you'll see.
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bleedblue added 12:12 - May 4 Only sunderland players I want to be linked with is Darren Bent, Kenwyne Jones or Frazer Campbell, other than that, not interested!
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PimsNumber1 added 12:19 - May 4 Fulop is a better goalie than Murphy. He will be our number 1. Murphy flaps about , poor kicker, poor coming for crosses , poor command of his area etc. He just isnt as good as most of you recon . Wright was better , but made a few mess ups and that was his lot. This guy will be steady and RELIABLE but he should not be a priority. We need a LB a RB a LM , possibly a RM , a decent creative CM with attacking instincts , and at least one striker. And maybe the goalie so thats about 7-8 players FFS !

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Yallop added 12:20 - May 4 Fulop kept Craig Gordon on the bench for much of last season. If he is better than Murphy then a great signing. Football is all about improving on what you already have
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Mark added 12:22 - May 4 On the understanding that funds are tight and we are looking to reduce the number of players in the squad, signing a goalkeeper who would cost us a transfer fee and would is on Premier League wages seems like madness. It could be press speculation, but it sounds plausible based on Keane's previous transfer activity. After all, he rates Walters so highly yet spent over £1M on Carlos Edwards - another right-midfielder when we needed a striker! Let us PRIORITISE and spend our funds on an attacking left-sided midfielder and two strikers (Ambrose, Chopra and Hooper for example). We desparately need strikers after starting the last game one-up-front and with no strikers on the bench!

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Blueknight85 added 12:26 - May 4 exactly Yallop why make do with what you have if you can get better. alot of the same people saying we dont need one are the same people who said we should have let Wright go because Murphey looks shakey lol I really hate the way people use this as an excuse .....> "why on earth are you looking at a keeper surely there are more important positions to look at" Is it really that hard to believe that you can be enquireing,negotiating, and in contract talks with more than one player at a time...????!!!!>>>>>?????!!!!??!?!?!?!?!

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blueherts added 12:31 - May 4 Michael - Bet fred - Chopra NO Oh - I dont think KEANE HAS MATES - So not sure he gonna get any favours Look at the 'heads up' WE GOT ABOUT LEE MARTINO We used to attract players here due to our great style of play So rule that out Our manager - rule that out Err - we have a great Port up the road I think we need to be looking at good DIV One players - hungry or maybe couple of the Pboro players - we cannot delude ourselves that we can attract big names We have money and that would be the players only motivation get players who have shown ability at this level but who would see us as a step up not down eg sunderland ressies

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Blueknight85 added 12:33 - May 4 same people who said we Shouldn't have let Wright go i meant* and Wright may not have been let go to spend wages elsewhere he might have been let go to spend the wages on a keeper who earns them with performance and fitness
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DietmarVanNostrilBoy added 12:37 - May 4 Not a great weekend for the 'blind faith' Keane lovers. Or do you still believe he is working to a master plan!?
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danesmill added 12:47 - May 4 Why not rename Ipswich Town Sunderland2? Seems to be the way we are going. No doubt one of our top playmakers, Owen Garvin, will be released soon in favour of another ex Sunderland player.
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blueherts added 12:56 - May 4 Bhasera ,N Gala from Plymouth ?
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Strider added 13:15 - May 4 So, 2 days after the season closes and everyone is still over reacting about every story. Frankly i think we need a decent back up goalie and i always felt nervous watching ALB. For me B Murphy looks a great signing and a very good keeper but we need appropriate cover - we saw why this season when Wrighty got injured and we didn't have that cover.
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MaySixth added 13:24 - May 4 Pleased about this as I don't think ALB is all that to be honest
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njw1568 added 13:35 - May 4 cant we buy players from any other teams
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Help added 13:35 - May 4 Okay, So we have no scouting network. Quite clearly because when was the last time a rumour of a player came from that source. Can someone please check how many other players Sunderland have on their books who RK signed who are not in the first team. I guess they might be on the list as well. Until those new players have signed a contract, (we as fans of ITFC, and because of who our manager is will have to endure a long summer of this speculation), I will ignore all such comments and wait till the new season starts with whomever RK has got.

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ITFCsince67 added 13:36 - May 4 Why oh why oh why? RW is the best keeper at the club. Shows already the BM is not good enough. All this chopping and changing is doing my head in!
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