Premiership clubs are railing against the growing threat of player power, following Roy Keane's refusal to sign a new contract with Manchester United.

The end of Keane's spectacularly successful partnership with the club, was foreshadowed on Saturday when he refused to commit himself to a five-year deal which would have made him the highest earner in United's history.

Instead, he has deferred a decision until the end of the season when, on the expiry of his current contract, he can leave as a free agent under the Bosman ruling, with every prospect of collecting a multi-million signing on fee, elsewhere.

Martin Edwards, the chairman, and manager, Alex Ferguson were putting a brave face on what was seen as the least favourable outcome for the club but privately, they see it as a watershed in industrial relations at Old Trafford.

Effectively, it spells the end of the club's practice of persuading high profile players to sign new contracts ahead of the completion of their existing ones. Now more and more big names, are likely to adopt Keane's strategy and that of his agent, Michael Kennedy, in extracting the best deal from the Old Trafford paymasters.

Ferguson, who has in the past complained of the club's rigid fiscal policies, now believes that with the expansion of player power, even the biggest clubs could be driven to the wall by unrealistic demands.

Acknowledging the implications of the Keane saga, he said: "I don't think Roy will be the last big name to pose this kind of problem for us," he said.

"I can see no other way of sorting out these kind of situations, other than for the big Italian, Spanish and English clubs to sit round a table, start talking and thrash things out.

"If they don't, I can see some of the big clubs in Europe collapsing under the strain of maintaining their sky high wages structures."

Yet, the manager was not wholly despondent about the weekend developments. "It gives me time, time to work on Roy, time for all of us to let him know how much we want him to stay at this club.

"I see this as a comfortable decision. I'm comfortable with it and so is Roy. He didn't want to be pressured into a quick decision at this stage. He has said he will not be talking to other clubs until next summer - and that's encouraging when you know that he's entitled to do so after January."

Keane, who denies that he made any specific demands of the club, said he wanted to be given the chance of concentrating on his performances and those of the club, rather than be drawn into endless speculation on a new contract.

"Over the next few months, I will give proper and due consideration to the club's most recent proposal and I shall make a decision concerning my future at the end of the season."

Mick McCarthy echoes the hope that Keane will now be allowed to get on with the chance of working on his game. Emphasising the dangers of on going speculation about contracts and transfers, he said he was glad that in his captain's case, the issue had now been parked until the end of the season.

"That kind of gossip can be hugely distracting and with some very important European championship games coming up over the next few months, I'm delighted that he'll be able concentrate on his performances on the pitch, rather than the gossip off it," he said.

Coincidentally, on the day that the Manchester United captain decided to fudge his long-term commitment to the club, his namesake, Robbie Keane discovered that Aston Villa have lost interest in signing him from Wolves.

Commenting on Wolves' rejection of a £5.5 million offer, Villa's chairman, Jim Gregory said: "Enough is enough. We were prepared to fork out 11-12ths of what they wanted but they decreed that it still wasn't enough. Now the deal is dead and buried."