Roy Keane set to turn his back on England by taking over at Melbourne Victory

By Mel Henderson

Roy Keane is set for a shock return to management with Australian side Melbourne Victory.

Keane has been out of work since January when he was sacked by Ipswich after his 20 months in charge failed to ignite a Premier League promotion challenge.



Sportsmail understands the Manchester United and Republic of Ireland legend is currently in Melbourne finalising the details of his contract.

Open arms: Roy Keane could be heading Down Under in his next managerial move

Although Keane failed at Ipswich – he was dismissed with them 19th in the league and following a run of seven defeats in nine games – he did take Sunderland from the bottom of the table to clinch the Championship title.

He then kept them in the top-flight the following year. He quit Sunderland in December 2008 and succeeded Jim Magilton at Portman Road five months later, but despite spending £8million in the transfer market, he only managed 28 wins from his 81 games in charge.

Victory have refused to comment on the speculation. The Melbourne side, who finished fifth in the recently-completed season before losing in an elimination play-off semi-final to Gold Coast United, are seeking a new boss following Ernie Merrick's departure last month.



Keane attended Wednesday night's Asian Champions league match between Sydney FC and Shanghai Shenhua at the Sydney Football Stadium - but Victory were coy when quizzed about the prospect of hiring the former United midfielder.



A club spokesman told the Melbourne Herald: 'We won't be commenting on speculation regarding the coaching position.



'Suffice to say, we still have a long way to go in the process of appointing a coach.'



