SUNDERLAND manager Roy Keane claims some top footballers have been put off joining the club because the North-East lifestyle won't keep their WAGs happy. LAUREN PYRAH dons her Jimmy Choos and investigates.

IF Roy Keane is to be believed, all a football manager has to do to attract top flight players is to cut the ribbons at the opening of a few designer boutiques.

So it's a good job someone has already done it for him in Sunderland.

Alexander McQueen, Prada and Mui Mui are not names which are often associated with the city, so it may surprise you to learn that all these designer labels, along with Jill Sander, Dolce & Gabbana and actress Sienna Millers label, twenty8twelve, are all available in Sunderland. Thats Sunderland - not Manchester, not Chelsea, not Liverpool - Sunderland.

Despite its reputation as a bit of a dump, Sunderland could have a lot to offer your average players wives and girlfriends. In fact, thanks to an ongoing £950m redevelopment of an area in the city centre containing beautiful Georgian town houses, the city is undergoing something of a revival.

Boasting designer shops, swanky cafes, luxury bars and a casino as well as city centre apartments, the Sunniside development has more than enough to entertain the average WAG while her other half is at training.

First stop is Van Mildert, in Holmeside, which stocks mens and ladies designer wear. The womens section has just been refurbished and labels include Armani, Hugo Boss and Burberry.

The shop used to sell Jimmy Choos, but found the demand wasnt high enough. However, owner Chris Hayes told me he would be willing to stock whatever the customer asked for.

"We get quite a lot of Sunderland footballers shopping here," he said. "We do get some of the wives as well. It is a big up and coming city," he added.

Neil Symington at designer boutique Eleven, in John Street, agrees.

"There are new restaurants opening all the time," he said. "It happened in Islington (North London) 20 years ago, now its happening here."

The shop, which has won a host of awards including fashion industry magazine Drapers best new shop in 2003, not only stocks Mui Mui, Bi La Li, Alexander McQueen and cult jeans label Superfine, but was chosen as one of just six shops in the country to sell the new Fred Perry range.

When the Sunderland WAGs need to take the weight off the Manolo Blahniks, they can rest up in Hollathans, next door to Eleven. There's also a rather nice bar called 200 High Street nearby.

Granted, this is only a small area of the city, so should the WAGs get bored, they can always jump into their Chelsea tractors for a ride out to Newcastle, which boasts designer shops including Cruise Flannels in the city centre, as well as Fenwicks and a host of high street stores.

In Jesmond, theres more cafes, bars and restaurants than you could shake a red American Express at, along with a few more bijou boutiques.

If she fancies going further afield, there's Yarm, on Teesside, recently voted BBC Breakfast viewers' favourite high street; Middlesbrough, which has trendy designer and vintage stores; and Corbridge, a charming and picturesque Northumberland market town with an array of independent boutiques, stocking luxury one-off items.

Despite what Roy Keane says, it's pretty clear that you can get much of what you would find in London in the North-East.

Plus, the people are nicer, the scenery is the most beautiful in the country and there's no congestion charge.

It's a no brainer really, perfect for a WAG.