Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland knows he came close to joining Sunderland last summer.

Ireland, whose side play Hamburg in the last eight of the UEFA Cup, said: "I was linked with a move to Sunderland because of the Roy Keane thing.

"But it was mainly little whispers. People said I was having a medical there because I was late for the AC Milan friendly before the start of the season - that wasn't the case.

"I did do a bit of soul searching in the summer and the new gaffer had come in. We had a lot of games, went to Germany on pre-season and I didn't participate in some games.

"So I was just asking questions about that to myself. I wasn't really sure where I stood. It was such a big squad. I didn't start the first game of the season at Aston Villa but I got my chance and I've been in ever since."