The Boy Who Would Be Keane
The £20m capture of Robbie Keane from Spurs has been one that has excited namy a Liverpool fan. Despite being offered the chance to join his boyhood heroes aged 14 he took the journeyman route to his dream move to Anfield.
The courtship of the Republic of Ireland international has been a lengthy process dating back as far as 2001 - something revealed by his former Leeds United team mate and namesake Robbie Fowler in his autobiography when Gary McAllister accidentally left a message intended for Keane on Gerard Houllier's behalf on Fowler's answerphone about signing for the club. The deal - £18million but worth up to twenty with add ons - is considered the going rate for a player of Keane's calibre with a track record to match. It is that proven record in the Premiership that adds to his value. Proven strikers in the English top flight are very hard to come by and it is seldom that one goes for anything less than £15m.
Despite this some cynical Liverpool supporters believe that paying the same price for Keane as the club did for Fernando Torres twelve months previous is bad business given that Keane is now 28 years old. The difference between the two deals is that Torres came with the reputation of a proven striker in La Liga, not the Premiership. In a league where there is little room for faults Torres had to adapt to the English game as quickly as possible and he did it in some style with an impressive scoring tally. Rafael Benitez's gamble on the Spaniard, who went on to fire his country to victory in the European Championship final in June, had paid off.
Keane, on the other hand, has a wealth of experience from his time at Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur and a brief understanding of the foreign game from his short spell with Internazionale. He admits that he is not a sole striker but rather as a second striker who can play "off the shoulder, link things up and play in the hole." During the press conference where his lifelong dream of being unveiled as a Liverpool player, Keane stated "I have come here to win things." He is eager to please as early as possible and hopes to achieve half what Kevin Keegan and Kenny Dalglish - predecessors of the shirt number he will be wearing and unlike the previous occupant of the Anfield number 7 Keane will not fail to disappoint like his former Leeds team mate Harry Kewell did in his five year spell at Anfield.
The signing of Keane has given Liverpool supporters a new-found confidence about the club mounting a serious title challenge in the coming season unlike the blind optimism that is uttered every summer in phrases such as "we'll win it this year, I can feel it" and "this year is the one". Some believe that Keane is the missing link required to challenge for the league but in reality there are several areas that need strengthening, most notably the absence of a proven right winger. Rafael Benitez's judgement is usually accurate when he gambles on a player with the exception of several previous signings and reported signings (Josemi, Mark Gonzalez and Gareth Barry to name but three) and the arrival of Robbie Keane is one gamble that will most definitely pay off.