West Ham and Portsmouth are spending silly money, says Quinn

The Sunderland chairman has deliberately taken a back seat this summer as Roy Keane presses ahead with a rebuilding programme at the Stadium of Light that could eventually cost £30million.

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But Quinn says agents are reaping the benefit of the Premiership spending spree and singled out Portsmouth and West Ham for particular criticism.

He said: "There's six or seven new owners who are spending money but are they getting the type of player that the top four want? I don't think so.

"If I was going to spend a fortune breaking the bank, I would be going after the players Liverpool or Man United want to sign.

"But, in the middle, people are fighting each other and raising the prices for the same players. You can see it with West Ham and Portsmouth. The agents are having an absolute beano. It's like a property market, where estate agents own half the property or, in West Ham's case, it looks like all the property."

Quinn also hit out at those chairmen who cannot resist the limelight. He has promised not to decide who moves to the club.

"What horrifies me is people who've made money out of property or biscuit tins telling a class act who's managing their club who they should be signing," he said.

"That's for the birds, but it happens in a lot of cases. I see players signing and chairmen standing there with the jersey and their arms around the player and I say, 'Oh my God, what are they doing?' It's their call, they may like that and may be in it for that, but it's not right.

"If I start telling Roy Keane who to sign I'm going against my own doctrine. Football is football, administration is administration.

"I'm 100 per cent behind Roy on this. People are being pressurised into signing players from videos and giving agents lots of money. We won't do that. We have to keep our heads when this is going on."

Quinn, who led the £10m Drumaville Consortium's takeover last summer, added: "I want people to look at this relationship and say that's the way a club should be run.

"I pay the bills. I know exactly what Roy is doing. I see the plan and the philosophy and I've yet to question one of his signings because I understand the route he's taking."