The Summer Transfer Thread

[Pesci]

Damn. Would've loved them to blow silly money on him.

[Lord Nibbler]

How much did Everton bid?

[Baddar]

BBC says £11.8m

[ONO]

And a lollipop.

[Lord Nibbler]

Chupa-Chups?

[Baddar]

Unfortunately not...

Still, it's the thought that counts.

[Hobo]

Hehe, just looked on Robbie Keane's wiki page and it already has his current club updated to Liverpool!

Clearly this is a sign

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Apparantly according to the BBC website Liverpool are one steep away from completing the signing of my Tottenham hero.

I now officially hate football. It's a sad sad day.

Bloody scousers.

Oh but it's ok cos we've got some identikit Mexican kid and Darren Bent to replace him.

Screw this, I'm going home.

[alldaws1]

Horrible, horrible news. I'd rather have lost Berbatov than Keane. The only acceptable replacements in my eyes would be someone like an Eto'o, Arshavin or David Villa. And even then I'd still prefer not selling Keane in the first place. Stupid Spurs.

Edited July 28, 2008 by AD

[IAceI]

Robbie

You lot better make up for this with a top quality signing or I'm disowning Tottenham as my second favourite club :@

[Hobo]

Sky says he's costing us 20million! I'm guessing Rafa's given up on Barry. We needed another striker who could score in the Premier League anyway. I never thought I'd see Robbie Keane at Liverpool but now that it's about to happen I'm quite happy.

What's the odds Spurs lose Berbatov too

Edited July 28, 2008 by HoboObohHbob

[Zaz]

If we lose both, I'd probably prefer to play with just the one striker up front next year (Villa maybe? >_>). We've bought some good attacking mids so far in Dos Santos and Modric and could be getting a few more in Arshavin and Bentley. So we can have three players behind the striker (AML, AMC, AMR) in (from what we've got at the moment) Dos Santos, Modric and Lennon, and have Zokora and Huddlestone play holding roles behind them (Zokora running around tackling and Huddlestone distributing to the attackers). Jenas could probably play any of those positions competently and we have O'Hara and Taarabt as well (though, we may want some more experienced back-ups).

If Spurs sign someone who can play up front alone (hell, maybe even if Berbatov stays) with Bent as back-up (he could probably play that role as well as he's quick, tall and needs his goals set up for him, he can't really set up another striker) another attacking mid or two and a defensive one, I'd be quite happy with the team. And I uses brackets too often!

[-A-]

I can definitely imagine Bent being a useful striker in a 4-2-3-1, though Spurs will clearly need another top quality striker if Berbatov leaves. I think people have the impression that a lone striker needs to be physical and capable of holding up the ball, but that's only true in a defensive 4-5-1. I know from personal experience of seeing Carlton Cole lead the line for West Ham that having that kind of system is not remotely conducive to attacking football, it's inherently defensive. Look at Liverpool last season - they had Torres up front playing on the shoulder of the defender and attacking players capable of playing passes and driving into the box. They had no width for a lot of the time and it didn't matter. I can imagine Spurs playing a similar way next season with 3 attacking midfielders supplying a single striker. Berbatov and Keane both dropped deep, so maybe their sales is something that Ramos has no problem with?

[therockbox]

Uuh I think you'll find we did have width last season, with John Arne Riise and Jamie Carragher bombing up from fullback.

I never thought I'd see Robbie Keane at Liverpool but now that it's about to happen I'm quite happy.

We've nearly signed him a couple of times in the past, funnily enough (although for a lot less money >_>). When he left Wolves I think we tried to sign him, and there's a story in Robbie Fowler's book about getting a text from Gary McAllister saying "so you joining then?" Was meant for Robbie Keane.

[Hobo]

Keane completes move to Liverpool on a 4 year deal for a fee that could rise to 20.3 million.

Fourteen years after turning down the club he grew up supporting in favour of Wolves, the Republic of Ireland captain finally completed a dream move following a medical at Melwood.

Keane is the fifth summer addition to Rafa Benitez's first-team squad after the arrival of David Ngog, Diego Cavalieri, Philipp Degen and Andrea Dossena.

The transfer is the sixth major move of a career which began with South Dublin side Crumlin United before the prodigious teenager burst onto the scene at Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1997.

A big-money move to top flight Coventry followed before Marcelo Lippi, manager of Italian giants Inter Milan, offered £13million for his services in 2000.

Keane would team up with Ronaldo and Christian Vieri in Serie A, though the move was to turn sour when Lippi was sacked.

A loan to Leeds United was arranged in December 2000, a deal made permanent six month later.

Unfortunately, Keane's arrival at Elland Road coincided with a growing financial crisis, and he was to join the exodus of stars in 2002 with a £7million transfer to Tottenham Hotspur.

Over the next few years the frontman, famed for his cartwheel goal celebration, finally settled, tallying an impressive 107 goals in 253 appearances and becoming a firm fans' favourite.

So good was his form in February 2006 that Inter president Massimo Moratti admitted his regret at letting Keane go.

Three months before departing for Merseyside he won his first senior honour as a player after helping Spurs beat Chelsea in the League Cup final.

The 28-year-old has also carved out a name for himself on the international stage having made up part of the so-called Golden Generation which emerged in the late 1990s.

The striker was part of the Irish side which triumphed in the 1998 European U18 Championships just months after making his senior bow against the Czech Republic.

His first international goal came against Malta in October 1998 and he is now the Republic's all-time record scorer ahead of Niall Quinn.

Keane famously scored a last-minute equaliser against Germany in the 2002 World Cup, one of three in the tournament.

Few were surprised when former Reds defender Steve Staunton handed him the captain's armband upon taking the Irish reins in 2006.

Liverpoolfc.tv Edited July 28, 2008 by HoboObohHbob

[therockbox]

Yaaaay

[Crybaby Bunting]

Lemme guess, the extra couple of million will be given to Spurs once Liverpool win the league

[TheRossWalker]

In non-Keane news, Diouf to Sunderland has gone through, and Everton have accepted an eight-figure offer from Fulham for Andy Johnson.

[Green Demon]

Another American looks to be heading over to Europe, Kenny Cooper who did spent a couple of years with ManU reserve squad looks to be heading to Cardiff City for between $3-4 million in the next couple days. Rosenborg of the Norweigen league was also said to be intrested.

Another American who is still out there is Micheal Bradley who had 19 goals last year for Heerenveen of the Dutch Premier League. The teams that seem to have the highest bids so far are Bayer Leverkusen, Middlesbrough, and AS Monaco, who recently got Adu on loan. It looks like Heerenveen want too much at this point and are going to wait until after the Olympics which he is playing in to try and sell him.

[Hobo]

Fulham signing someone who isn't American or Scandinavian?

Surely not!