Keane completes dream move

SOCCER/ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:ROBBIE KEANE was last night being lined up to be officially unveiled as a Liverpool player at breakfast time this morning after the 28-year-old Dubliner passed a medical and signed a four-year contract with the Anfield club worth just over €100,000 per week.

After being presented to the press, the player is expected to fly out to Spain where he will meet up with his new team-mates ahead of their friendly game against Villareal tomorrow evening.

After protracted and at times somewhat acrimonious negotiations, the two clubs agreed a fee of €24 million for the player with performance related add-ons potentially bringing it up to €25.7 million.

Even the basic amount, which is about €2.5 million higher than that paid by Chelsea to Blackburn Rovers for Damien Duff, makes the striker the most expensive Irish player in history.

For Keane, who is a lifelong supporter of the Merseyside club, the move is clearly something of a dream come through, although he turned down a previous opportunity to move there as a teenager when, having been made to feel more welcome at Molineux, he opted for Wolves instead.

Since then he has been about the place a bit with stints at Coventry, Inter Milan and Leeds before an €8.9 million move to Spurs in 2002.

Upon his arrival at White Hart Lane he made it clear that he wanted to firmly establish himself at a big club and gradually he did just that, becoming a firm favourite with the fans and captaining the side through much of his last season.

His future there had been in doubt for some time but last year he signed a new long-term deal and it seemed for a while that he might end his career in north London.

After scoring 22 goals in 44 appearances during the 2006/07 season and 23 in 54 during the campaign just finished he became a major target for Rafael Benitez, whose failure to capture Gareth Barry from Aston Villa moved the Dubliner to the top of the priority list.

The Spaniard was able to offer not only a significant pay rise but, more importantly, the prospect of Champions League football and the possibility of honours to a player who had won nothing at senior level prior to last season's League Cup success.

"I would like to place on record my thanks to the board, players and fans of Tottenham for the past six years, which were the best and most enjoyable of my career to date," said Keane last night in a statement. "I will never forget them. I would specifically like to thank chairman Daniel Levy for understanding, that, as a fan, joining Liverpool is a lifelong dream of mine and one I couldn't let pass me by.

"I hope one day the Spurs fans, who have been brilliant to me, can understand this too. I have only good things to say about my time at Tottenham and expect them to go from strength to strength under Juande Ramos and Daniel Levy."

Levy, in reality, didn't seem all that understanding at all. "I was incredibly disappointed when I first heard, not only that Liverpool had been working behind the scenes to bring Robbie to Anfield, but that Robbie himself wanted to go and he submitted a transfer request to this effect," he said.

"I have already made my opinion clear on the nature of this transaction," he added. "I don't regard it as a transfer deal - that is something which happens between two clubs when they both agree to trade - this is very much an enforced sale, for which we have agreed a sum of £19 million (€24 million) as compensation plus a potential further £1.3 million (€1.6 million) in additional compensation."

Spurs were upset by the fact that after Liverpool were initially refused permission to talk to the player, the club's website quoted comments by Benitez to the effect that he would very much like to sign him. These, in turn, were widely reported in the general media.

The Londoners lodged an official complaint with the Premier League but this was dropped last night after Liverpool apologised for its behaviour and agreed to make a contribution to their rivals' official charity, the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.

Juande Ramos had apparently been anxious to keep Keane at the club and last night his assistant, Gus Poyet observed: "It's difficult to take because Robbie was everything to Spurs and we thought he would be here for a long time."

Still, even amongst the supporters with whom he was so popular there were those who felt the money was too good to turn down and Poyet added: "We hope to get a player to replace Robbie."

Keane's career At a glance

1980:Born in Dublin on July 8th. 1994: Joins Wolves, managed by former England manager Graham Taylor, despite interest from top-flight clubs.

1997:Signs professional contract for Wolves in July. Scores twice on his first-team debut in 2-0 win at Norwich.

1998: Makes his international debut for the Republic of Ireland as a substitute against the Czech Republic. .

1999:Joins Coventry for €7.6 million to become most expensive teenager in the Premiership and scores twice on his debut against Derby.

2000:July - Joins Inter Milan for €16.5 million in a five-year deal. December - Leeds secure Keane on loan until the end of the season, with a view to a permanent €15.2 million switch in the summer.

2001: Makes a superb start to his Leeds United career, bagging nine goals in 14 appearances for the club.

2002:Scores a last-minute equaliser in Ireland's World Cup match against Germany.

Scores a crucial late penalty to force extra-time against Spain in the second round.

August 31st - Joins Tottenham for €8.9 million.

2008: January - Scores his 100th competitive goal for Tottenham in the 2-0 win against Sunderland.

February - Wins his first major honour as a Spurs player in their League Cup final victory over Chelsea.

July 28th - Joins Liverpool in a deal worth €25.7 million, signing a four-year contract.