Sepp Blatter said that footballers are akin to slaves and now Roy Keane has claimed that clubs treat their players like “pieces of meat”. While the Sunderland manager was not speaking directly about Cristiano Ronaldo's controversial courtship by Real Madrid, the Irishman's departure from Old Trafford has given him a jaundiced view of loyalty in the game.

Keane, who left Manchester United in acrimonious circumstances in 2005, said: “When a club is finished with you, they get rid. My advice is look after yourself. If you get a chance for bigger and better things, then go for it. I've experienced that myself. People question players' loyalty. I question clubs' loyalty. It's a business to them.

“If you're not needed then you can be out of the door in ten minutes, and I'm speaking from experience. Clubs buy and sell players. Clubs sell players sometimes like a piece of meat.”

Sunderland are confident they will make their first signing of the summer in the next 48 hours, with Keane expecting the club to break their transfer record of £9million. Keane said yesterday that Kenwyne Jones, the Trinidad & Tobago striker, will miss at least the first two months of the season with a knee injury and the manager has expressed a long-term interest in Darren Bent, of Tottenham Hotspur.

“This is a big summer,” Keane said. “The club needs to make a statement. I do know Niall Quinn [the chairman] and Peter Walker [the chief executive] are working extremely hard, but it's all well and good saying we're nearly there. The real deal-makers get over the line.”

Keane also confirmed that Sunderland have taken Liam Miller and Ross Wallace off the transfer list.