The gloom surrounding managerless Leeds United deepened last night when Robbie Keane rejected a £10 million move to Sunderland, paving the way for Manchester United to launch a firm bid for the Yorkshire club's prize asset Rio Ferdinand.

Leeds had hoped to sell Keane, along with the transfer-listed Lee Bowyer and unsettled Olivier Dacourt, to raise about £35 million to eat into their spiralling debts which already total about £77 million.

With the Republic of Ireland striker scuppering that hope and with no bids received as yet for the two midfielders, the chairman Peter Ridsdale may now have to resort to his unfavoured Plan B and listen to offers for his England centre half.

Alex Ferguson returned to United's Carrington training complex yesterday and met his chief executive Peter Kenyon to discuss possible buys, with a bid for Ferdinand his main priority.

United are unlikely to be willing to pay as much as £35 million for the 23-year-old, but Ridsdale, having seen the Keane sale founder, may find it hard to resist anything approaching that amount.

Leeds rejected a £7 million bid for Keane last month but accepted an improved offer from Sunderland only for the 21-year-old to dig in his heels and reject the transfer.

Keane's stunning form for at the World Cup finals has undoubtedly increased the market value of a player whose chances at Elland Road have been severely limited since Robbie Fowler's arrival last season.

"I am happy at Leeds and am confident that I can impress any new manager with my ability and commitment," he said, no doubt aware that Celtic's Martin O'Neill - Ridsdale's first choice to succeed David O'Leary at Elland Road - aired his admiration for the forward during the World Cup.

Despite that rebuff, Sunderland officials remained privately confident last night that they could still clinch the record signing, which would more than double the £4.5 million spent on Emerson Thome and Claudio Reyna.

After a mediocre season, Keane's arrival to partner Kevin Phillips would alleviate the pressure on the manager Peter Reid, who has often been accused of refusing to spend the money to lure big-name players to Wearside.

Furthermore, Sunderland have been under pressure to produce a major signing to stimulate advance season-ticket sales, which have been sluggish as Friday's deadline for renewal applications nears.

Keane could provide that impetus, though the success of the bid may now rest upon Sunderland's new player-coach Niall Quinn persuading his Ireland team-mate to reconsider.

The move would have been the fourth major transfer of the talented youngster's career following his £6 million switch from first club Wolverhampton Wanderers to Coventry, an amazing £13 million transfer to Inter Milan and then his £12 million return to Leeds.

Reid has added only experienced Irish defender Phil Babb to his squad to date, on a free transfer from Portuguese double-winners Sporting Lisbon.

Juan Sebastian Veron, whose transfer record - £28.1 million for moving from Lazio to Manchester United last summer - is threatened by Ferdinand's prospective move, has been called to appear before Italy's state prosecutor in Rome on Friday week to answer allegations of illegally acquiring an Italian passport.

The Argentinian and eight others are accused of forging an official document and he faces a fine if found guilty.

Liverpool are to sign the Bayern Munich defender Alou Diarra on a free transfer. The 20-year-old Frenchman, who moved to Germany from Louhans-Cuiseaux two years ago, has yet to make a first-team appearance for the Bavarians and will sign a five-year contract at Anfield.

Everton are considering taking the Paris St-Germain midfielder Edouard Cisse in exchange for their unsettled Ghanaian Alex Nyarko, who moved to the French club on loan last month.