ROY KEANE HAS revealed that he declined the Sunderland job last week because he couldn’t agree contractual terms with his former club.

Keane was speaking at Gary Neville’s The Overlap Live event in Manchester on Thursday night and half-joked that, “As usual, it came down to money.”

“There’s always offers of work, but the deal just didn’t fall into place last week,” he said.

Keane had been heavy favourite to replace the sacked Lee Johnson at Sunderland, whom he once steered from the Championship to the Premier League. However, after significant talks, the former Manchester United and Ireland captain turned down the job with the club instead appointing Alex Neil.

“There’s lots of pitfalls as an ex-player”, Keane added, “but you’ve got to keep yourself busy.

“But everything has got to be right: the contract and the challenge. I’ve said it before: the deal has to be right for everyone.

“It didn’t fall into place last week. It wasn’t meant to be.

“Everything has to be right. The right challenge. The right contract. You have to fancy it.

I’ve not had that opportunity the last few years. There has not been a club where I think, ‘I’m the right fit for that club.’

Keane also told Neville and their live audience that he is comfortable with the possibility that he may never get the right opportunity to return to management.

“If I don’t get another chance, it’s no big deal,” said the Cork man. “You need a bit of luck. The right club has to give you the call. That hasn’t happened. It’s no big deal.

“I did ok at Sunderland, it wasn’t easy at Ipswich, but I’d like to get back into management. But there’s some brilliant managers out there and it’s not easy.

“But if I don’t get another chance then it’s not the end of the world.”