Shaun Goater will be seeking reassurances about his future at Manchester City following Kevin Keegan's appointment as manager.

But his agent believes if Keegan is looking around for a top drawer striker, he need not look much further than the Bermudian hitman.

Mark Georgevic is one of, if not the closest, person to Goater in footballing terms, having been by his side since he made his breakthrough into English football with Rotherham United.

He says the Islander was hit hard by City's relegation from the Premiership and then had to deal with the fact that the man who brought him to the club, Joe Royle, was sacked and former England boss Keegan drafted in.

Speaking from England, Georgevic said it was too early to say just what the future had in store for Goater, who returned to the Island last week and then left again for a short vacation. He's due back soon to begin his annual soccer clinic.

"I think it's too early to say. The relegation at Man City has not gone down well,'' the agent said. "He tried very hard last season. He did all that was required of him by the club, he kept putting the ball in the net. It probably has hit him very hard and one can understand why.'' Georgevic said Goater had toiled to achieve his dream of playing in the Premiership, and, for the moment at least, that had been taken away from him.

"I think one can say without fear of any recrimination that he has worked very hard for the club. He gave his all for the club and has delivered what was required of him,'' he said. "It's not for me to be pointing fingers but as an onlooker one can see that the team has not performed to the expectations that one might have had. There is a lot of money that has been spent on players and they have underperformed and I don't think Shaun has underperformed.'' Georgevic said he believed things might have been different had Goater not been struck down by an injury which kept him out of action until a substitute appearance against Southampton towards the end of last year.

"I think I am probably on record as saying that I believe if he had had his injury sorted out after the Blackburn game last season, and it should have been, he would have scored the goals in that interim time to have probably kept City up,'' he said. "The diagnosis was such that `a rest may cure you' and it didn't.'' In the end despite Goater's 12 goals City dropped back to the Nationwide League after just one season in the top flight.

Now Keegan is the man entrusted with getting the Citizens back into the big time. He has been promised a transfer budget far in excess of most First Division clubs, but may still need to wheeler deal to get the players he wants. Whether Goater is in his plans has yet to be revealed.

Agent to discuss Goater's future From Page 17 "Kevin Keegan may wish to bring in new faces, one doesn't know. He (Goater) has got a three year contract ahead of him but with any new appointment it's a time were you need reassurance from the manager,'' Georgevic said. "I think they have gone down and it's very difficult to predict what will happen. I am sure that once Shaun returns from holiday we shall be in touch and we shall discuss his appointment.

"I am sure that at some stage certainly Kevin Keegan will wish to talk to Shaun and I am sure he and I will have discussions.

"He has got a goalscorer he can count on getting 20 goals next season, but one has got to see how the personalities fit. Manchester City are already linked with strikers as I am sure one would expect.'' If Goater is not wanted by Keegan there are bound to be many other suitors -- most of whom are probably already in the Premiership.

But if people are interested Georgevic said he had yet to hear anything.

"He is under contract. To be honest, the way that things work, if there had been interest it would have gone to Manchester City first. Certainly, I haven't been contacted,'' he said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if there was interest. He's proven. I am sure there may be clubs that would be delighted to have a player of his goalscoring ability on their books.'' Asked whether he thought Goater would start next season at Maine Road, Georgevic would not commit himself.

"I don't know. He has a three year contract. Jimmy Greaves' old addage that is always trotted out is `football is a funny old game'. I imagine Kevin Keegan will have his own ideas and one has to wait and see,'' he said.

"It is an unsettling time for a player but he has certainly enjoyed his career up to now at Manchester City.'' City are favourites to bounce back at the first attempt, but nothing is certain in soccer and time is not on the 31-year-old's side. So will the agent be advising him to look elsewhere? "I think that we will have a discussion at some point, I have no doubt, about how he views everything,'' Georgevic said. "We haven't had that discussion yet and certainly Kevin Keegan's appointment we need to consider, there is no doubt about it, but he has got three years to go on his contract and one has to wait and see.'' Shaun Goater: Proven record