Roy Keane yesterday ended the longest running transfer saga of the year by agreeing to sign a new four-year contract with Manchester United.

Details of the final settlement were not disclosed, but it is thought that Keane will be paid £50,000 a week, making him the biggest earner in British football.

A tannoy announcement to a packed and expectant Old Trafford before last night's Champions League match told the Manchester United fans what they wanted to know - that Keane was staying for another four years.

In a statement released after the match got underway, United's skipper said: "I am absolutely delighted that my future with the best club in the world is now secure.

"I never wanted to leave Manchester United and the contract that I have now signed indicated to me United's desire to remain at the top of world football. It is a fantastic day for me, my family and the club."

Together with adviser Michael Kennedy, Keane has been involved in high pressure talks with United club chairman Martin Edwards ahead of the January 1st cut-off point. At that stage, he would have been eligible to sign a pre-contract agreement with another club and Juventus, who made inquiries about him earlier in the year, were said to be heading the clubs wishing to take him to Italy.

At the player's insistence, the negotiations were fast forwarded on the club's return from their world championship game in Tokyo and last night provided an obvious deadline for their completion.

Keane's new wage structure will double his current earnings, and defines new guidelines at a club which always prided itself on being able to control overheads.

Unfortunately, there will be no benefits to his old club, Cobh Ramblers. When they sold him to Nottingham Forest for a fee of £30,000, plus a game with the English club in Cobh, there were no clauses entitling them to further payments as the player's career progressed. The completion of the protracted saga will be welcomed by Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy who had expressed fears that the player's form might suffer if the negotiations were allowed to drag on until the end of the season.

Meanwhile, the FAI hopes to be in a position to firm up its preparatory programme for the start of the 2002 World Cup early in the New Year.

As of of now, the only definite game arranged for the second half of the season is against the Czech Republic at Lansdowne Road on February 23rd. This will return the visit of the Ireland team to Olomouc in March of last year.