Ex-Sunderland, Manchester United and Celtic man's hilarious transfer story

Keane, having retired from playing after a one-year stint at Celtic, took over the reins at the North East club in 2006, with the Black Cats second-bottom in the Championship.

Fast forward a season and the ex-Nottingham Forest man had guided Sunderland to the Premier League.

Keane, looking to improve his squad, heald talks with Matthew Taylor over a potential transfer after the midfielder had lost his starting place in Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth team to Niko Kranjcar.

“Trying to get players up at Sunderland was always difficult, their wives didn’t want to go up there because they want to go shopping,” the former Manchester United and Celtic star explained. “Eventually we get Matty Taylor up (to discuss a transfer).

“I think he was leaving Portsmouth and he had the opportunity to go to either Sunderland or Bolton.

“So, I met him at the stadium (Stadium of Light), up in the boardroom, gave him all the talk for about an hour or two.

“He said ‘I’ve got a lot to think about, it's a big decision.’

“I said ‘of course, you take your time, it’s a huge decision for your family. I understand, no problem.’

“Look, Sunderland to Bolton is no comparison, but Bolton weren’t a bad team at the time. I walked him to his car and said ‘brilliant, thanks for coming up’ and he turned his back.

“Then I got a text, not many people text me. It said ‘Hi Roy, this is Matty Taylor’. I’ve got my phone, I think it was a BlackBerry at the time, I think they were in.

“And I could see him getting in his car! “The text read ‘and I’ve decided to go to Bolton’ and he’s waving going out of the car park!”

Sunderland retained their Premier League status despite Taylor’s amusing rejection, finishing 15th in the top tier. Keane, though, left the club midway through the following season – citing differences with former owner Ellis Short.