The Manchester United legend was managing Sunderland at the time of his odd rejection.

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Keane was in charge of the Black Cats for two years when he tried to sign Matt Taylor in 2007.

The versatile midfielder was on his way out of Porstmouth and had offers from Sunderland as well as Bolton.

Taylor was invited to the Stadium of Light for transfer discussions so Keane could convince him to join the club.

However, Taylor – who was sacked as Shrewsbury boss this week – didn’t even wait to get out the car park before sending the Irishman a rejection text message.

Keane told Stick to Football from Sky Bet: “I was trying to bring Matty Taylor to Sunderland, but he didn’t want to move up.

“I spoke to him up in the boardroom at Sunderland late at night.

“I talked during the sales pitch about Sunderland are going places.

“He told me, I’ve got this Bolton [offer]. I was like, ‘Sunderland is a better club than Bolton’.

“I thought the chat went really well, we went outside, his car was over there, shook his hand – brilliant, good lad.

“He said: ‘It’s a big decision, I’ve got my family to think about’. I said: ‘No problem, of course’.

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“So I shook his hand outside the Stadium of Light, I see him get in his car and I get a text from Matt.

“He wrote: ‘Thanks for the chat, I’m going to Bolton’. And the car drives past me.

“He said afterwards, his wife wanted to live in Manchester, which is fine – but you could’ve told me that two hours ago.”

Taylor spent three-and-a-half years at Bolton before sealing a switch to West Ham in 2011.

He then went on to play for Burnley, Northampton and Swindon.

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