Robert David "Robbie" Keane (born 8 July 1980 in Tallaght, Dublin) is an Irish footballer, currently playing for Liverpool F.C.. He is also the current captain and record goalscorer for the Irish national side.

He began his professional career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, scoring twice in his first team debut aged 17. The following season he was the club`s leading goalscorer and scored his first international goal with Republic of Ireland. He changed club frequently between 1999 and 2002, breaking transfer fee records, but his brief spells at Coventry City, Inter and Leeds United were unexceptional.

He finally settled at Tottenham Hotspur, gaining repute as a consistent goalscorer and often finishing the season as the team`s top scorer. Keane`s pedigree was reinforced when he became Ireland`s record goalscorer in 2004 and Steve Staunton appointed him national team captain in 2006. The 2007-08 season was the most fruitful of his career as he set a career record of 23 goals in a season, scored a landmark 100th competitive goal for Tottenham and won his first senior honour, the Football League Cup.

Keane joined Liverpool for £20.3 million in 2008, becoming part of the team he had supported as a child.

Early career

Keane started his football career with South Dublin schoolboy side Crumlin United where his talent was recognised at an early age.[2] Keane received offers from both Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers but decided to go to the First Division side, judging that it would be harder to break into the first team at Liverpool.[3] The fifteen year old moved to Wolves, joining their youth team.[4]

Keane progressed through their youth ranks and made his professional debut aged 17 on 9 August 1997, scoring twice against Norwich City. The following season he excelled at the club, earning plaudits from both the press and Wolves manager Colin Lee.[5] He went on to be the club`s leading scorer, hitting the back of the net 16 times in the 1998-99 season.[3] Keane`s performances and goalscoring record with both Wolves and his national team attracted much interest from larger clubs and a move for the young striker seemed imminent given Wolves` finances.[6][7] However, with three years left on his contract, Wolves sought a high price for their Irish starlet and managing director John Richards stated his reluctance to sell Keane unless their asking price was met.[8]

[edit] Coventry City

Just weeks into the 1999-2000 season, he was sold to Premier League club Coventry City for £6m, a then-British record for a teenager. After a successful season at Coventry, where he scored 12 goals in 34 games, he had become one of the hottest properties in English football, and was being courted by many of the biggest clubs in football.

Inter Milan Marcello Lippi of Inter succeeded in obtaining Keane`s signature, paying £13 million for the player.[9] However, his dream move to Italy soured when Lippi was sacked soon after Keane arrived. Lippi`s successor, Marco Tardelli, deemed Keane to be surplus to requirements. Keane`s ambition refused to let him stagnate in Italy and in December 2000 he was loaned out to Leeds United.

[edit] Leeds United

His Leeds career got off to an impressive start, scoring 9 goals in 14 starts before the Leeds manager, David O`Leary, made his loan deal permanent in May 2001 at a cost of £12 million. The following season was not so bright, and he found himself drop