Robbie Keane is Re-Earning His Spurs

There is no escaping it.  Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer policy this January was confused.  Time will tell if Redknapp’s interesting choice of signings prove inspired or spectacularly lacking in imagination.  For now, we must fidget (Spurs fans mostly) in the knowledge that it raised far more questions than it answered.

A Spurs fan myself, I viewed the final day capture of Robbie Keane as the highlight of the new (or invariably not) arrivals.  The other outfield acquisitions were simply ok.  I for one—and I may be alone in this conclusion—perceived the re-signing of Defoe as a backwards step. 

To put it bluntly, it was no coincidence that while Keane and Berbatov secured moves to bigger and better clubs, Defoe managed only to move sideways.  The return of Chimbonda, too, did little to quicken the pulse although I would concede that he is likely to bring some versatility to a struggling back four.  Palacious was a more exciting purchase but at £14m appears unproven and a risk. 

Keane, by contrast, possesses a three dimensional game, the ability to thrill and, at a net gain of somewhere in the region of £6million, extraordinary value for money.  Just how it came to be that he was permitted to make such a sensational return after just six months is yet to be fully understood.

Keane’s time at Liverpool, barely underway, was ended prematurely.  In part, this was on account of Keane’s inability to rediscover the outstanding form that had underwritten his transfer fee.  Yet, I would suggest that this tells but half of the story and that the full rationale behind Keane’s exit lies beyond the pale of his ability as a player.  A more likely explanation can be found in the ongoing saga of Rafa Benitez’s fractious relationship with the club’s owners and Board.

It was reported earlier this week that Benitez is finally close to signing a new deal.  In truth, the bedrock of a deal appears to have been in place for some time; the key sticking point in the negotiations has been around the Spaniard’s insistence that his office exerts greater control over the club’s transfer policy. 

Challenging the extent to which this was the case, Benitez has conceded he asked for the power to make his “own decisions and run the team as I see fit.”  Against this backdrop, Keane appears to have been made a pawn in a subtle yet ruthless power struggle.

Given the vast transfer fee involved, it is highly unlikely that Benitez strongly opposed the signing of Keane in the summer.  Whether or not this was a player Benitez actively pursued behind closed doors is unknown but Keane featured heavily for Liverpool in the beginning of the season, suggesting that he had his manager’s support. 

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