Liverpool have completed the signing of Robbie Keane from Tottenham for £19 million, saying it could rise to £20.3 million.
The 28-year-old, who signed a four-year contract worth around £80,000-a-week, admitted to join the club he has supported all his life is a dream come true.
He will now wear the number seven shirt made famous by legends like Kevin Keegan and Kenny Daglish.
Keane immediately praised Spurs for their understanding and revealed that the move to Anfield was too good to turn down.
He said in a statement: "I would like to place on record my thanks to the board, players and fans of Tottenham for the past six years, which were the best and most enjoyable of my career to date. I will never forget them.
"I would specifically like to thank chairman Daniel Levy for understanding, that, as a fan, joining Liverpool is a lifelong dream of mine and one I couldn't let pass me by."
However, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy was far from happy in the manner the transfer was conducted as he insisted the deal was not a transfer but an ‘enforced sale’ and the fee was a huge compensation payment.
Keane, who won his first major trophy in Tottenham's Carling Cup triumph last season, scored 107 times for Spurs, averaging an impressive 13 goals per season over the last six years with Spurs and taking him to 12th in the Premier League's highest scorers list with 105 goals.
He is also one of only 13 players to reach the century mark since the league was formed 16 years ago.
He was managed to form great partnerships with a variety of striking partners – Jermain Defoe, Frédéric Kanouté, Mido, Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Bent – of his White Hart Lane career.
The challenge for Keane will be to form a similarly workable strike partnership with Fernando Torres, who scored 33 goals in all competitions in his debut season last term. But it should present few problems for a player as technically gifted and tactically aware as Keane.
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The 28-year-old, who signed a four-year contract worth around £80,000-a-week, admitted to join the club he has supported all his life is a dream come true.
He will now wear the number seven shirt made famous by legends like Kevin Keegan and Kenny Daglish.
Keane immediately praised Spurs for their understanding and revealed that the move to Anfield was too good to turn down.
He said in a statement: "I would like to place on record my thanks to the board, players and fans of Tottenham for the past six years, which were the best and most enjoyable of my career to date. I will never forget them.
"I would specifically like to thank chairman Daniel Levy for understanding, that, as a fan, joining Liverpool is a lifelong dream of mine and one I couldn't let pass me by."
However, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy was far from happy in the manner the transfer was conducted as he insisted the deal was not a transfer but an ‘enforced sale’ and the fee was a huge compensation payment.
Keane, who won his first major trophy in Tottenham's Carling Cup triumph last season, scored 107 times for Spurs, averaging an impressive 13 goals per season over the last six years with Spurs and taking him to 12th in the Premier League's highest scorers list with 105 goals.
He is also one of only 13 players to reach the century mark since the league was formed 16 years ago.
He was managed to form great partnerships with a variety of striking partners – Jermain Defoe, Frédéric Kanouté, Mido, Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Bent – of his White Hart Lane career.
The challenge for Keane will be to form a similarly workable strike partnership with Fernando Torres, who scored 33 goals in all competitions in his debut season last term. But it should present few problems for a player as technically gifted and tactically aware as Keane.
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