Jamie Carragher Admits He's Still Baffled by Liverpool's Decision to Sign Robbie Keane

Jamie Carragher has revealed that he is still baffled as to why in 2008, then Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez signed Robbie Keane from Tottenham.

It is well documented that the Republic of Ireland record goalscorer did not see eye-to-eye with the Spanish tactician and Carragher has come forward with an explanation.

Keane was signed from Spurs after six superb seasons with the hopes that he could recreate his goalscoring form at Liverpool. He was unable to do so, though, with Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard's partnership instead providing much of the Reds' success. 

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Now, former teammate Carragher has opened up on the move - telling the Liverpool Echo that he's unsure why Benitez pursued Keane in the first place.

"I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t understand why we bought Robbie in the first place," Carragher said.

“Robbie was a top player for Tottenham but the season before, Steven was playing up alongside [Fernando] Torres as the number 10. We had done it for the second half of the season, and I think Stevie set-up 20 goals. I was like, ‘why would you break that up?’

“It was a surprise to be honest when he came in. Him and Benitez just never clicked, straight away. Under a different manager, it would have worked.” 

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Keane was signed for £20m and featured 28 times for Liverpool in his brief tenure at the club. The then 27-year-old only scored seven goals in all competitions, though, and was shipped back to Tottenham in the proceeding January transfer window. 

After he left,, the Reds managed to finish second in the Premier League with rivals Manchester United pipping them to the title by four points. Keane, meanwhile, scored five goals in his half season back at Spurs.