So D-Day came and went without the D. Roy Keane had been due to let Manchester United know yesterday whether he would be captaining the club this time next year, but maybe the thought of relaying bad news on Friday the 13th seemed too much even for his devilish sense of humour. Instead, the country will be told definitively today of the biggest decision of Keane's 10-year-old professional career.

Or so it is to be hoped, for there remains the chance that Keane will merely announce another delay after the Leeds United game is over. The continuing uncertainty meant another day spent deciphering language both verbal and of body. Alex Ferguson's demeanour, for instance, was positive and so, in contrast to Wednesday, were his words.

"I hope it's good news," said Ferguson. "I've had two or three lengthy discussions with Roy and I feel very optimistic. I don't have to tell him what a great club this is because he already knows. He loves playing for Manchester United, he's the captain and he's very happy."

Coupled with the statement from Juventus's general manager Luciano Moggi following a telephone call to Keane's agent, the solicitor Michael Kennedy - "I got the impression Keane would renew his contract at United and that's the end of it as far as I am concerned" - Old Trafford could be hearing the pleasant sound of Keane saying "I'm staying" at around 1.45 p.m. today.

Things certainly seemed to be moving that way although there was one cautious perspective offered, significantly from Keane's best friend at United, Denis Irwin. "You never expect people to leave Manchester United of their own accord, especially when the club are in a position like this," Irwin said, "but when it comes to looking after your family, you have to think about other things. You don't play football for long."

Keane once said of his United colleagues: "I wouldn't be buddybuddy with any of them except Denis", so Irwin's opinion is worth listening to.

Presumably Keane listened, Irwin having experienced a similar contract stand-off with United last season. Eventually that was smoothed out and the chairman Martin Edwards will hope, having agreed to pay a European Cup scale wage for a midfielder of Keane's calibre, that the going rate is also the staying rate. After all, being paid what you are worth, rather than money lust, is what this dispute is about. In one sense the money has spoken, though whether it is the loudest voice in Keane's head is open to question.

The past says not, for we have been here before with Roy Maurice Keane. Six years ago, when the then 21-year-old was manoeuvring his passage out of Nottingham Forest, he was stalling on a new contract at the City Ground while considering his options further north.

"He's being a greedy child," said Brian Clough at the time. "He's like a kid who wakes up on Christmas morning and finds an apple, an orange, a box of Smarties and 50p in his stocking. He wants more. Keane is the hottest property in the game right now, but he's not going to bankrupt this club." It is a measure of football's inflationary economy, and Keane's rising stature, that his demand then was a weekly wage of £6,500.

Multiply that by six or seven and one gets closer to the figure United's board have swallowed to persuade him to stay. One notable feature about the figure of £40,000 per week is that suddenly £25,000 per week seems insufficient for Keane and family to live on. Anyone who has ever been to the brooding Cork estate of Mayfield where Keane is from will understand immediately that £25,000 a year would be considered a vast income there.

Thus when Ferguson said on Wednesday night: "I think the things he's thinking about are not monetary," it rang true - mostly. Those in Cork are keen to point out that when Keane did extricate himself from Clough's grasp, he turned down Blackburn Rovers when they were offering more money than United. A game of snooker at Ferguson's Cheshire home ended Keane's dalliance with Kenny Dalglish.

Keane is not a vocal press presence but it would be understandable were he to argue, in the gentle lilt of his casual conversation, that had he joined Blackburn they would not now be in a different league, and equally that United might not have won the four Premierships, three Doubles and the European Cup since his arrival. That might be considered vain, but it would be realistic.

Therefore it would be wrong to accuse Keane of greed, and correct to suggest he knows his value. Surely the most telling statement he made during the negotiations came early on. "I won't undersell myself," he said simply. That, however, is an approach which contradicts United's strict wage policy, though Ferguson believes key players, the ones who make the difference, are entitled to be paid more than their team-mates. He says so in his book.

Keane, unsurprisingly perhaps, given his closeness to his manager, agrees and said when discussing his contractual status: "If United signed Ronaldo tomorrow on a hundred grand a week then good luck to the bloke, I wish him well. It's the same in any walk of life. Some business people get paid more because they're better. Some players sign two or three-year contracts and a few months later they're looking for more. I'm saying: `Well, why the bloody hell did you sign?' Don't sign unless you're happy. It's simple advice."

Considering Keane's national profile and his longevity, it is a little odd that he should still seem like a stranger to everyone, but this sounded genuine. "As I get older I can see things happening before they do, if you know what I mean. Basically, when I was a headstrong young fella I couldn't see things happen but now I see the big picture a bit better. You suss things out before you act; when you're younger you act first, think later. But don't get me wrong, I won't let anybody walk over me."

Seeing the big picture while not being walked on have also been Edwards' twin concerns. The United chairman does not emerge well from Ferguson's autobiography when money is mentioned, but must be aware that to replace Keane would cost more than to keep him.

Irwin spoke for Ferguson and the dressing room when he called Keane "impossible to replace". Presumably Edwards shares that view but, if he does not, he should read the September edition of the club's official publication, Glory Glory Man United. "Roy Keane," it says, "is the most important player at United. He is the captain of the club and the heart of the midfield. Roy is nice to his dogs but not nice to his opponents. He is, in two words, well hard." What the readers want to know urgently is whether he is, in one word, staying.

Another D-Day awaits.