From The Evening Herald (Ireland)
Tottenham have told Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez to forget about bringing Ireland captain Robbie Keane to Anfield
The Tallaght man's future has been in question over the last two weeks since it emerged that Rafa Benitez had earmarked £20m to get hold of Keane, with Peter Crouch moving to White Heart Lane in part exchange.
The notion of Keane who was a Liverpool fan as a kid growing up in Dublin, lining out for the Reds took legs yesterday when Ireland boss Gio Trappatoni gave his tacit approval to the move saying "I would be happy for Robbie" when asked about a possible move to Anfield.
But sources at Tottenham today refuted reports that Keane had handed in a transfer request. It's understood that Keane only returned to London from honeymoon on Monday and reported back for pre season training.
Two factors this week have killed off any hope of Keane joining Liverpool, with Crouch moving in the opposite direction. Firstly, Portsmouth are today preparing to make a stand alone bid of £10m for Crouch and that cash offer may be too lucrative for the reds to turn down. Portsmouth chief exec Peter Storrie has said "Harry Redknapp has made it clear he wants Peter Crouch".
Also Tottenham know that their other strikers Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Bent are unsettled, with Sunderland trying to bring Darren Bent to the Stadium of Light while United are still chasing Bulgarian Berbatov.
Logged