Premier League - Keane rejoins Tottenham

Eurosport - Tue, 03 Feb 08:25:00 2009

Ireland striker Robbie Keane has rejoined Tottenham Hotspur from Liverpool after just seven disappointing months at Anfield.

2008-2009 Liverpool Robbie Keane - 0

Keane, who cost Liverpool £19 million pounds last July, will link up again with former Spurs team-mate Jermain Defoe who has also returned to the struggling London club.

"We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement for the transfer of Robbie Keane back to the club from Liverpool," a statement on Tottenham's website said. "Personal terms have been agreed and a medical completed."

Neither club disclosed the transfer fee. With French defender Pascal Chimbonda also signing for Tottenham from Sunderland in January, Spurs have bought back three players sold when previous manager Juande Ramos was in charge at White Hart Lane.

Keane made 28 appearances for Liverpool, scoring seven goals, but struggled to hold down a regular place in Rafael Benitez's starting side. He admitted on Monday his "lifelong dream" of playing for Liverpool had not worked out.

"It was a difficult decision to make to leave Tottenham in the summer," Keane told the Spurs website. "It proved not to be the right move for me.

"I know some Spurs fans will feel I let them down by leaving but I can assure them I shall be giving my all for this club (which) has terrific fans and I want to repay them for all their support. We've got to get on and fight our way up that league table."

It is a surprising U-turn for Keane and another twist in the career of the 28-year-old who began at Wolverhampton Wanderers and had spells with Coventry City, Internazionale and Leeds United before joining Tottenham in August, 2002.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said: "We never wanted Robbie to leave in the summer, we acknowledged the six years dedicated service he gave this club and reluctantly let him go. I am delighted that he has chosen to return to us."

Keane, Ireland's record scorer, became a firm favourite with Tottenham fans, netting 107 goals in 254 games in his first spell there. He struck up a lethal partnership with Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov who was sold to Manchester United in August.

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, who replaced Ramos in October after a terrible start to the season, will hope the return of Keane, often the captain at Tottenham, can help lift them away from the relegation zone.

Russian signing Roman Pavlyuchenko and Darren Bent have failed to fill the void left by the sales of Berbatov and Keane this season with Spurs having scored only 11 goals in 12 home league matches.

They are 14th in the table but just two points above bottom club West Brom.

Reuters

Comment 233 - 252 of 252

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  1. keane this is your home stay there

    From Kris, on Wed 4 Feb 7:47PM
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    ALL MATCHES ON WEB: ­ PREMIER LEAGUE, FA CUP, CHAMPIONSHIP, CARLING CUP, ­ LIGA, SERIE A, BUNDESLIGA, CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - UEFA CUP­ AND MUCH MORE

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    From , on Tue 3 Feb 7:24PM
  3. ALL ENGLISH FOOTBALL
    PREMIER LEAGUE – FA CUP – CARLING­ CUP
    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – UEFA CUP

    ALL MATCHES ON WEB: ­ PREMIER LEAGUE, FA CUP, CHAMPIONSHIP, CARLING CUP, ­ LIGA, SERIE A, BUNDESLIGA, CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - UEFA CUP­ AND MUCH MORE

    ALL THE HIGH-LIGHTS OF PREMIER LEAGUE­ MATCHES

    From , on Tue 3 Feb 1:36PM
  4. Welcome home Keano! Lets get you back doing what you do­ best, scoring goals for Spurs and the Rep of­ Ireland!!!!

    From frankbawn, on Tue 3 Feb 1:31PM
  5. so he keane really want to go to championship with­ tottenhan,sorry remember wat happend to leeds united

    From Captain S, on Tue 3 Feb 1:27PM
  6. @#$% all of you who wants keane back and rafa out!!!­ robbie should have stayed but the man agreed to the­ move himself which is the most disappointing. but as­ for rafa, leave the man alone!!!

    From etu, on Tue 3 Feb 12:59PM
  7. Wellcome home Keano

    From go forth and, on Tue 3 Feb 12:51PM
  8. steven gerrard will be let off by the law cos he plays­ for liverpool, if he had played for torquay or­ doncaster he would go down

    From COLIN, on Tue 3 Feb 12:40PM
  9. U have to blame Rafa in this one on Keane, Keane never­ got the chance to prove himself, he isn't a loan­ striker, if torres and keane had played upfront­ together more often then a partnership would have­ built, u cant build @#$% from sittin on a bench,­ hmmmmmm one striker and Ngog as cover!!!!!cant see that­ one workin too well!! I have supported Liverpool all my­ life but wtf is Rafa playin at?????

    From michelle722oliver, on Tue 3 Feb 12:27PM
  10. liverpool is a great club with the wrong owners.its a­ shame to see keane go bt life goes on and the tittle­ has to go merseyside ths year.

    From thembanhlamba, on Tue 3 Feb 12:27PM
  11. I am glad Robbie back keep your fingers crossed that he­ can finish the season off with plenty of goals and not­ get injured like Jermain Defoe.

    From susanbutcher818, on Tue 3 Feb 11:49AM
  12. He's not got the hump, he's a manager who wants­ to do his job. He's not been able to do that­ because they were making decisions without his consent­ and ignoring his choices for purchase. I applaud him­ for having the confidence to drop Keane both due to his­ horrendeous performances and not actually wanting him­ as part of his squad anyway. He was standing up for­ what he believed in. It was a bad decision on the­ board and Parry's part to sign him, not Rafa. His­ interviews have always indicated he was never fully on­ side with Keane, because he didn't want him! ­ Babel, as bad as he has performed has expressed a­ desire to play more forward, those chances have been­ restricted because he's been stuck out wide. This­ could be the making of him. I feel he has always­ played better for us in a forward role as opposed to­ wing. Perhaps that was Rafa's plan at the start of­ the season, to use Babel up front more, it was a­ midfielder (Barry) that he wanted, and NOT a striker­ after all. True enough we've only got Ngog to turn­ to aswell, but he's hardly had a fair chance to­ prove himself whereas Keane was given ample­ opportunity. Gerrard, Fowler, Carragher - none of them­ were instant hits when they first broke in, they­ matured over time. Bad executive decisions are to­ blame here, not Rafa. 2nd in the league, through to­ the knock out stage of the champs league, going through­ to the next round of the FA cup on wednesday, and­ people want him out because he sold an underperforming­ striker he never wanted to begin with. The world has­ gone mad.

    From mozer69, on Tue 3 Feb 11:38AM
  13. i can't believe that keane has left liverpool, but­ who cares he was rubbish, he couldn't score for­ love nor money

    From Marc-David, on Tue 3 Feb 11:33AM
  14. you still got the man who couldnt hit a barn door kuyt

    From moose1066, on Tue 3 Feb 11:28AM
  15. I'm sorry but Rafa is not the assute manager­ Moser69 et al think he is, he is a kid with the hump­ and Keane got the brunt of it. Whether you are a Rafa­ fan or Keane fan the fact remains that our striking­ cover now consists of Ngog. I'm sure that Man U are­ wetting themselves watching this circus and wondering­ what they were worried about. Out 1st eleven is the­ best that I've seen in Red for ages and it was not­ a surprise to me that we beat Chelski. However, the­ vast majority of the other signings have been below par­ for the Championship let alone a Prem title & champ­ league run in. It's time to pray to the God of­ Hamstrings and Torres's well being or its UEFA cup­ next year for Liverpool FC.

    From Mark, on Tue 3 Feb 11:12AM
  16. Really well structured input there Andy. Lets get the­ man who couldn't hit a barn door back and get rid­ of the man whose led us to the Champs League and our­ closest shot at the title in 20 years.

    You muppet.

    From mozer69, on Tue 3 Feb 10:41AM
  17. Raffa out , Keane in

    From , on Tue 3 Feb 10:19AM
  18. WHO GIVES A SH-T ABOUT THE RED ROBINS ON THE MERSEY !­ THEY PLAY CR-P FOOTBALL, AND THE CAPTAIN IS A THUG

    From I TYSON, on Tue 3 Feb 10:17AM
  19. Well said Michael. Blaming Rafa is way off the mark. ­ It's the two useless owners and that horrible snide­ Parry who are to blame, not Rafa.

    From mozer69, on Tue 3 Feb 10:14AM
  20. Well that explains his recent sitting on the bench, i­ think you'll find he's said awhile ago he wants­ to go back and as thus rafa sat him or benched­ him.
    I'd say he probably tried to convince him to­ stay by the lateness of the xfer.

    To every Richard­ Cranium calling himself a liverpool fan and blaming­ rafa, count through our player list, if you think­ alsono, torres, agger, skertel, riera, babbel and more­ would have signed for houlier or some other manager­ GTFO. How many of our current crop are from before­ rafa? Would you like to have murphy, broken owen,­ riise, scimcer, baros and co back?

    Fools we're­ enjoying our best season in along time, get behind your­ team, rafa built it and its performing the best in­ years and all you can do is dribble @#$% and cry.

    YNWA

    From michael, on Tue 3 Feb 10:05AM
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