KEVIN KEEGAN hopes to make the most of the upheaval surrounding Sven-Goran Eriksson's position at Manchester City by stepping up his efforts to land Richard Dunne.

After Keegan made a weekend inquiry about the Republic of Ireland international's availability, Dunne has been amazed by the developments at Eastlands over the past 48 hours.

Despite a relatively successful first season in charge at City, Eriksson is understood to have been told that he will be replaced after the final two matches of the season against Liverpool and Middlesbrough.

The Swede is unlikely to comment on his future until a compensation package has been agreed, but his long-term assistant Tord Grip has already spoken out about the developments.

After a campaign that has seen City overcome Manchester rivals United twice and challenge for a European place until the latter stages, there has been widespread disbelief from everyone connected with the club - including skipper Dunne.

Owner Thaksin Shinawatra will now have the responsibility of trying to convince the 28-year-old to commit his long-term future to the club, with Eriksson's situation fresh in his mind.

Dunne has 15 months left to run on his contract and Keegan wants the former Everton man to move to St James' Park this summer to become the steely presence at the heart of his defence.

And, with the uncertainty surrounding his next manager, Dunne would be receptive to hearing what his former boss at City has to say, with the possibility of a £5m bid on the horizon.

Having worked on transforming the fortunes of the existing players at his disposal, Keegan insists he has the targets in mind to push for this summer.

And, having missed out to Tottenham for midfielder Luka Modric, the Magpies chief believes that the players he will go for first and the ones he already knows.

He spent four years with Dunne at Manchester City and Keegan said: "I hadn't watched a live game for three years but I know all the players in Europe from the TV.

"I know now, having been here three months, that half the targets I'd like are the same people I'd have liked when I was out of the game, looking at them and thinking 'wow, if I was a manager now, that's the sort of player you'd like at your club'.

"The transfer deadline passed without me signing a player, while I would like to have fetched Jonathan Woodgate in and that's well documented, I wasn't looking to fetch four or five in and say I needed to change everything. I was looking forward to working with the players here. And that's what we did."

Keegan has already watched the Scottish Premier League's player of the year, Aiden McGeady, on occasions and he is weighing up a move for the Celtic winger. But, despite a busy summer ahead, the Newcastle boss feels credit is due to the players he has guided to safety after a difficult season - some of which he didn't even know.

"I'd played for this club, I'd managed it before," said Keegan. "I'd played here when it was quite successful and the only thing we could do was get out of the division below and we did that.