By BRIAN LEWIS
Liverpool completed a $40.5 million purchase of Ireland captain Robbie Keane today. And as good as the 28-year-old striker is on his own merits, his transfer will have a trickle-down effect on the rest of soccerâs hot stove league. With Real Madridâs pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo, clubâs aggressive pursuit of other teamâs players have been coming under scrutiny. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy had no problem weighing in.
âI don’t regard it as a transfer deal; thatâs something which happens between two clubs when they both agree to trade,ââ Levy said. âThis is very much an enforced sale, for which we have agreed a sum of £19million as compensation plus a potential further £1.3million in additional compensation.ââ
I donât really have as much of a problem with Keane as I do with his fellow Tottenham forward Dimitar Berbatov, and Ronaldo for that matter. Iâm lead to believe Keane actually put in a transfer request, and if so, he may have put his money where his mouth was, likely forfeiting his cut of the transfer fee to make a move he requested.
Berbatov and Ronaldo didnât do that, just trying to have their cake and eat it too _ while getting paid millions to eat it. If itâs Ronaldoâs dream to leave United, no problem. If itâs Berbatovâs dream to get to United _ and he cried when told he wasnât going last year _ fine. Put in a transfer request. Not so much to ask for someoneâs âlifelong dream.ââ
Anyway, it was also surprising to see frugal Liverpool splash serious cash. Now I canât see any way theyâre still in for stud Spanish winger David Silva. I mean, theyâre not Chelsea.
Plus, stripped of one top forward, now can you really see Tottenham selling the other? That means they might be able to sell Berbatov even if they wanted to (which they donât) and even if Manchester United appeared willing to pay the $60 million asking price (which they donât).
