Source: Daily_Mail
Selling Keane is a risk worth taking, insists Liverpool boss Benitez
Rafa Benitez has admitted selling Robbie Keane is a risk – but insisted it is one he had to take.[LNB]Keane returned to Spurs in a deal worth an initial £16m to Liverpool, meaning they are down £3m on the £19m they paid the London club for his services just six months ago.[LNB] Back in black: Robbie Keane (right) returns to the Tottenham fold to train with Michael Dawson (left) and Didier Zokora[LNB]Having lost Jermaine Defoe for around 10 weeks with a broken foot, Harry Redknapp was desperate to get his hands on the Irish international before the January transfer window closed and the Spurs boss was even happy to pay more for Keane than he had originally planned.[LNB]But there are question marks hanging over Benitez's decision to allow an international class striker to depart at a time when Liverpool are looking to challenge for the title.[LNB]'It is a risk but the situation was not good and we needed to do something. Sometimes good players cannot settle down in the team and when this happens you have to consider the situation and try to react quickly,' Benitez told the Liverpool Echo.[LNB]'If it is not good for the team then it is better for everyone to make a decision and because of the situation in the transfer market and for the opportunity for the player we had to do it now.[LNB]'I have to analyse things and try to look at the bigger picture and this means thinking of the club and the team and what is best for them.[LNB] In the background: Rafa Benitez looks on as Robbie Keane looks away[LNB]'We decided to think about the club by reducing the damage.'[LNB]'We still have [Ryan] Babel, [David] Ngog and [Dirk] Kuyt as well as [Fernando] Torres,' Benitez added. [LNB]'Now I would like to wish Robbie the best because although things did not work out he has been working hard for us.[LNB]'He was trying to do his best and the key was that Spurs showed a lot of interest and they were pushing really hard for him.[LNB]'The player needed to play and he was not doing that as much as he would have liked with us. But I cannot criticise him in any way because, as I have said, he tried to do his best for us.'[LNB]But former Anfield striker John Aldridge believes Benitez has made a mistake in letting Keane go and left Liverpool short of options in attack.[LNB]'Look at the players they've had in the last four years. Michael Owen was sold, Robbie Fowler has been and gone, Peter Crouch and now Robbie Keane,' he told Sky Sports News.[LNB] Back at the Lane: Robbie Keane[LNB]'To sustain a challenge on Manchester United you have got to have one if not more of those players on top of what we've got at the moment.[LNB]'Dirk Kuyt can play up front, Ryan Babel at a push and then there's the lad (David) Ngog who is nowhere near the quality needed, he's a young lad.[LNB]'There are certainly not enough options.'[LNB] Jamie Redknapp: Robbie has point to prove after his Rafa nightmare[LNB]HATCHET MAN: Liverpool offloading Keane during the title run-in is pure madness[LNB]LIVERPOOL FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE NET[LNB][LNB] [LNB]
