Why £4m for Chopra is sign of Keane's uphill task
Roy Keane has never been a man to settle for cosiness but the Sunderland manager has effectively, albeit temporarily, asked the club's fans to go out and join him in the discomfort zone after Sunderland offered Cardiff City £4m for the former Newcastle United striker Michael Chopra. Keane is sure to instigate bigger deals in his time, and Hearts' goalkeeper Craig Gordon may fall into that category if he moves south for £8m or more, but few will equal the shock of the news of Chopra's possible signing.
Chopra is yet to agree personal terms, but if that proceeds smoothly inside the Stadium of Light the reverberations will still be felt outside. This is the fickle age of message boards and phone-ins and, on a couple of levels, financially and emotionally, this transfer has raised questions on Wearside about Keane's stewardship for the first time.
The reason is that while Chopra may have played one season with Cardiff, and impressed with 22 goals in the Championship, Sunderland fans know him as a hardcore Geordie who scored only one Premiership goal for Newcastle. It came against Sunderland, at the Stadium of Light, a goal celebrated vigorously by Chopra. Newcastle United wasted no time yesterday in putting footage of the moment on their official website.
That goal came in April of last year and when Chopra returned six months later as a Cardiff player he scored twice in a 2-1 win and again marked his goals with robust celebrations. There was no doubting his local affiliation.
Keane was complimentary about Chopra that October night, saying: "He looks like one of those players who was unlucky at Newcastle. I have seen the lad play a number of times when he was at Newcastle, sometimes for their reserves against Manchester United, and he looks like a natural goalscorer."
And once the hysteria ebbs in that section of supporters who will always be most voluble and vociferous - Shay Given, Chris Waddle, Michael Bridges, Robbie Elliott and Lee Clark have all played for both Newcastle and Sunderland in recent years - it may be that the mooted transfer says more about that state of the market and the state of English football, rather than a parochial preoccupation.
Keane bemoaned "a lack of quality" on Tuesday. Due largely to a lack of opportunity at St James' Park, Chopra is unproven at Premiership level and yet costs £4m, a sum that will rise to £5m should Sunderland and Chopra prove harmonious. But then David Nugent, Keane's previous target and someone yet to kick a ball in the Premiership, has just been sold to Portsmouth for £6m. Then again, this is a market where Darren Bent costs more than Thierry Henry.
It may be that the Gordon deal collapses because of such inflation. In Scotland Hearts are reported to have turned their nose up at £8m and asked for £10m and, while Keane is on record as saying Sunderland "can compete", there comes a point where the price is simply unjustifiable.
A legitimate question then arises about alternatives. From Ross Wallace and Liam Miller to Greg Halford and Russell Anderson, Sunderland so far under Keane have bought British or Irish players or foreigners who have played in England - the Trinidadians Carlos Edwards and Dwight Yorke being the most high profile - even though players from abroad generally cost less in terms of fees and wages.
This could be a policy decision or it could be a broader issue. On Tuesday Keane said: "A lot of players, especially those abroad, do take everything into account. Believe it or not, the weather plays a massive part. Obviously I have been lying through my teeth saying it is always sunny up here.
"But I suppose I was a bit like that before I came up here thinking the north-east is in the middle of nowhere. That is part of my job to try and sell the club and the area. But I have settled in, I really enjoy it and so do my staff that I brought with me. It is part of my job to sell the club and say come up, have a look around. We have had players, shown them the areas where we think they could live, stuff like that. It is part of the challenge because the temptation for a lot of players is to live in Manchester or London."
There will be no difficulty selling the area to Chopra since he is born and bred in the north-east. However, not until he has scored at least one Premiership winner for Sunderland will many on Wearside consider embracing Keane's new signing.