Despite being out of the picture at Spurs, Robbie Keane remains the centre of attention at club and international level.
The ‘publicity stunt’ bid from Birmingham City earlier this month cooled interest in the striker with his financial demands appearing to put him out of reach for struggling Premiership clubs fearful about the cost of relegation
With less than a week to go in the transfer window it’s still anyone’s guess where he will end up with West Ham the latest club declaring an interest.
Tottenham seem resigned to the fact that a permanent transfer is unlikely due to the combination of Keane’s wages, a transfer fee and uncertainty over relegation.
Giovanni Trapattoni has a vested interest in Keane playing first team football and spoke out about his captain on Monday when he named his squad for the opening Carling Cup tie with Wales.
Dropping Keane is the big taboo of Irish football but with important Euro 2012 qualifiers coming up other strikers, including Anthony Stokes, are starting to figure in the Italian’s plans.
“I have said it is important to him that he goes and plays,” Trapattoni admitted when he was questioned about Keane. “If he stays two months on the bench without a game, we have also (Kevin) Doyle, we have (Shane) Long. Anthony Stokes and Leon Best also score goals.
“We have this situation, but I hope he tries a new team. If Robbie does not find a new team, we can try other options after.
“I spoke with him, when he could go to America (he was linked to Canadian-based MLS side, Vancouver Whitecaps), and I said, ‘you go.’ He said to me also, ‘Maybe I go to Birmingham, the first I go to is Aston Villa.’
“We need him to play games. We have options but it’s important that we do not put too much pressure on the shoulders of young players. That is dangerous.”
After returning to Spurs from Celtic last summer Keane knows that he has no future at White Hart Lane.
His playing ambitions have been well stated in the past but no-one is in a rush to take a major financial hit.
A dozen clubs could guarantee the 30-year-old first team football but only Keane will decide whether the financial package is right.
If he remains at Spurs beyond the current transfer window his reputation as well as international prospects could be permanently damaged.
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