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Roy Keane 'almost brought a young Giorgio Chiellini to Sunderland... but deal failed over £200,000'

Italy colossus Giorgio Chiellini was on the brink of joining Sunderland for a bargain £8million shortly after beginning his hugely successful 16-year spell at Juventus – only for the deal to fall through over £200,000.

Mick Brown, the Black Cats' chief scout at the time, was staggered to be offered the powerhouse defender shortly after manager Roy Keane had secured promotion to the Premier League in his first season in charge at the club in 2006/07.

'It was a day, like many others, when I took a call from an agent who said, "would you be interested in Chiellini?