Keane may return to United on Monday as Stoke assistant

Matt Stead

Roy Keane could join Stoke City as part of Martin O’Neill’s backroom staff if the manager resigns from his Ireland post.

O’Neill is the favourite to replace Mark Hughes at the Bet365 Stadium, with Gary Rowett having signed a new deal with Championship side Derby County.

The Times report that O’Neill ‘has moved a step closer’ to becoming Stoke boss after holding talks with the club this week.

O’Neill is currently out of contract with Ireland, meaning that neither Stoke nor the manager himself had to inform the association of discussions.

Stoke are thought to be reluctant to bring in O’Neill unless he resigns from his Ireland post after four years in charge; there is no chance of ‘double-jobbing’ in the short-term.

John Fallon adds that O’Neill’s current Ireland assistant Keane would be likely to join him in Staffordshire.

‘In a further blow to the FAI, it is believed that Roy Keane, O’Neill’s assistant with Ireland, will also quit to join O’Neill in the Stoke City dugout,’ he writes.

‘That could mean a return to Old Trafford for Keane in Monday’s Premier League game against Manchester United, although sources indicate the deals may take longer to finalise.’