Sunderland boss Roy Keane has revealed the addition of former Manchester United talent spotter Mick Brown to his backroom team is part of an overhaul of the club's scouting network.

Keane told the Sunday Sun: "No network existed when I arrived, but a lot of clubs would have lacked that network too.

"It takes time - many years - to build up and unfortunately managers are often at clubs too short a length of time to put things in place.

"I spoke to Alex Ferguson a number of times and he told me it took him four or five years to build up his scouting network to how he wanted it - and that's at Manchester United!

"But I've brought Mick Brown in and he's doing a very good job on that side of things.

"Mick's experience is vital and his contacts have been built up, not over five or 10 years, but over 30 or 40 years.

"It's not necessarily about throwing money at it, it's about getting the right people in place.

"We've got two or three people in that we are delighted about but we need two or three more because we want to cover every league.

"We've made a start and now we will spread that further over the next year or two.

"If you look at other top teams - the likes of Chelsea or Arsenal - they literally have hundreds of people working for their scouting network all over the world.

"You need foot-soldiers out there and that's what we are trying to build up."