TWO days ago, Roy Keane urged Sunderland supporters to "chill out" as he continued to pursue a number of transfer targets. Yesterday, as the identity of one of them was made public, a fair proportion of Black Cats fans went cold.

Former Newcastle United striker Michael Chopra will become Keane's third summer signing within the next 48 hours after Cardiff City accepted a £5m bid for his services. Rightly or wrongly, the 23-year-old's Tyneside roots will make him a lightning rod for his manager's reign.

Investing £5m on any striker who has scored just one Premiership goal would be considered a gamble. Investing such a significant sum in a player who scored that goal at the Stadium of Light in the colours of Newcastle United, however, represents the biggest risk of Keane's fledgling managerial career.

As soon as Cardiff boss Dave Jones confirmed Sunderland's bid yesterday morning - an offer that triggered the buy-out clause that was inserted into the striker's Bluebirds contract when he made a £500,000 move from Newcastle last summer - various Internet message boards began to buzz with conflicting views from the Wearside faithful.

Some felt that Chopra's 22 Championship goals last season outweighed any misgivings over his heritage. Others cited the name of Lee Clark, the last player to cross the Tyne-Wear divide, as proof that dyed-in-the-wool Geordies could not swap black-and-white stripes for red-and-white ones. All, though, had an opinion one way or the other.

Keane has never shied away from making difficult decisions since taking over at the Stadium of Light last August and his boldness, allied to the passionate urgings of chairman Niall Quinn, has been one of the major reasons why Sunderland fans have readily bought into their club's latest reincarnation.

Chopra's arrival will not eradicate the feelgood factor that has swept across Wearside following last season's Championship triumph, but it may leave Keane open to harsher criticism than might previously have been expected should things not go according to plan in the Premiership.

The Irishman might have seen Hearts turn down his latest offer for goalkeeper Craig Gordon yesterday - a bid that would have seen Sunderland pay £5m up front and a further £3m in instalments - but the only topic of debate concerned Chopra. No matter who else arrives at the Stadium of Light this summer, it is likely to remain that way for the majority of next season.

As revealed in yesterday's Northern Echo, Keane opted to turn to Chopra after a proposed £7m deal for Preston striker David Nugent was withdrawn and subsequent attempts to sign Jermain Defoe and Alan Smith also failed to come to fruition.

Having already had a £3m offer turned down, the Black Cats boss triggered Chopra's £5m release clause late on Monday night, forcing Jones to concede defeat in his attempts to keep his side's leading goalscorer at Ninian Park.

"I am sorry to see him go, everybody in the camp is," said Jones. "But at the end of the day, there is a price for every player. The money could go on to make us stronger.

"This is good business for us and, after all, we are in a business. And for Michael it means Premiership football - we cannot stop him. We wish him all the best with Sunderland."

While Chopra remained in Cardiff's pre-season training camp in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, yesterday, his agent, Simon Bayliss, was locked in contractual discussions with Sunderland officials.

Chopra has instructed Bayliss to complete the deal as quickly as possible, insisting the threat of fan protests has done nothing to dampen his desire to prove himself in the Premiership.

The Gosforth-born marksman is expected to fly into the North-East this morning to begin a medical at the Academy of Light. Provided that goes to plan, he should make his Sunderland debut in next Wednesday's pre-season friendly at Darlington

Keane would also like to have Hearts goalkeeper Gordon on board by then, but his efforts to capture the Scotland international are proving stubbornly unsuccessful.

The Sunderland boss has tabled a succession of bids this summer, with the latest, which would have made the 24-year-old the most expensive British goalkeeper in history, arriving at Tynecastle yesterday morning.

Hearts assistant coach Stephen Frail recently described Gordon as a "10m player", though, and it remains to be seen whether Keane is willing to spend an eight-figure sum on a goalkeeper.

Last week, his efforts had looked like being in vain anyway, with Gordon claiming that he would only move to England for a guarantee of European football.

Sources in Scotland yesterday insisted that his stance had softened since then and, privately, the goalkeeper is understood to have delivered a glowing assessment of Sunderland's prospects before leaving for Hearts' pre-season tour of Germany.

"It's not something I can think about at the moment," claimed Gordon in public. "The club haven't accepted a bid from anyone so, until they do, I'll just continue doing what I'm doing here.

"If that changes, then we'll see what happens, but for me nothing has changed. It's business as usual until I'm told someone has made a bid that the club consider acceptable."

Meanwhile, sources in Ireland have claimed that complications over a medical have hampered Sunderland's attempts to sign West Brom duo Paul McShane and Paul Robinson.

Keane had agreed a 5m deal for the pair, but McShane's medical is understood to have revealed a hip concern that has sent the Black Cats back to the negotiating table.

Port Vale chairman Bill Bratt has confirmed the League One club have made an approach to sign former Liverpool and England striker Robbie Fowler.

The 32-year-old, who is a free agent after leaving Liverpool at the end of last season and is a target for Championship clubs Leicester and Cardiff, has also reopened talks over a move to Sydney FC, say reports in Australia.

Bratt said: ''We've approached Robbie Fowler's agent to see whether he would be interested in playing for Port Vale.

''We obviously can't afford to pay him what other clubs can afford.

"But he's a very wealthy man anyway and we hope he may want to play for the pleasure of it.

''I believe Cardiff are offering him 8,000 a week and we can't match that.

''But it's a chance for us as far as I'm concerned.

"What we've done is ask the question. If the answer's no, the it is no."