Robbie Keane to head back to Spurs as price is too high for Celtic

Published on Friday 19 March 2010 22:19

TONY Mowbray has urged Celtic supporters to enjoy watching Robbie Keane for the rest of the season as the Parkhead club have little chance of buying him in the summer.

The Republic of Ireland international has scored eight goals in eight games since arriving on loan from Tottenham in January. Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, however, claimed he will not be loaning Keane out again which means Celtic would have to come up with a substantial transfer fee if they want to keep him in Glasgow. However, Mowbray ruled out a permanent deal ahead of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with St Johnstone at Parkhead.

"For me it is about Robbie enjoying his football and hopefully the Celtic fans have enjoyed what he brings and the goals that he brings," he said. "If it is the case that he goes back to Tottenham at the end of the season all we can do is hope he enjoyed his time at Celtic and contributed some goals, which he already has done, and hopefully some enjoyment for the supporters. But football is very much about finance these days and Robbie Keane is way out of our structure.

"He cost them (Spurs) 12million. I don't think that our board are going to loosen the purse strings that much. I wouldn't dare tell Harry Redknapp what his best options would be, but I do know that Robbie will have benefited from playing regular football and he has shown the quality that he possesses.

"Harry has some pretty special players at his disposal and Robbie is here because Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko were competition for him and obviously he wanted to play. He may face similar challenges when he goes back. But when was the last time a Scottish club paid 12million for a player? Was it Tore Andre Flo? Those days are long gone in the Scottish game, I think."

Redknapp had earlier insisted there was "no way" he will let Celtic keep Keane beyond his current loan deal.

The Tottenham striker joined his boyhood idols in a transfer deadline day move at the beginning of last month in a bid to rescue their ailing season.

Amid rumours Celtic will approach Spurs over extending his loan move into next season, Redknapp has moved to end any hope of that happening.

"I don't see us loaning Robbie out again," the Tottenham manager said. "We paid a lot of money for him. So it's not something I see happening. It would obviously be up to the chairman but I couldn't see it being a possibility. I certainly would not want it to be happening."