Keane to return: Robbie Keane will walk away from Celtic in the summer to return to the English Premier League. Pic: ©SNS Group
Robbie Keane has ended any lingering hopes that he may stay with Celtic beyond the end of the season. The striker, a loan signing from Tottenham Hotspur until May, insists he will return to White Hart Lane and start the next campaign in a Spurs shirt.
Keane, 29, took his tally with the Glasgow club to nine goals in nine games with a strike in Saturday’s 3-0 win over St Johnstone to keep Tony Mowbray’s faint hopes of winning the Scottish Premier League alive.
The Hoops boss admitted on Friday that his club wouldn’t be able to afford to keep the Republic of Ireland international beyond his current loan deal and Keane has confirmed his departure, quipping that he was looking forward to a good cup of tea upon his return to London.
"I've got a three-year contract at Tottenham so I will go back there in the summer,” Keane said. "It's just a loan move and always has been.
"I've got a lot of friends down at Tottenham and I miss the lads - I speak to them all the time and they are doing well at the moment. I also miss the tea ladies - they are very good down there!"
Keane is almost exactly midway through his temporary stay in Scotland, with a maximum of 11 competitive first team games left for him to take part in. Barring a collapse from Rangers in the race for the league title, he will be aiming to take home a Scottish Cup winners medal.
There had been suggestions that Eidur Gudjohnsen’s form in Keane’s absence at Tottenham would force their manager, Harry Redknapp, into a rethink over the future of the former Liverpool, Inter Milan and Wolves player.
Gudjohnsen is on loan from French Ligue 1 side Monaco and although he may be offered a permanent deal to remain in the English Premier League, it is not thought that his situation would affect Redknapp’s thinking on Keane.
With that in mind, Mowbray encouraged Celtic supporters to enjoy having the striker in their team until the end of the season.
"If he goes back to Tottenham at the end of the season, we will hope that he's enjoyed his time here and contributed some goals, as he already has done, and hopefully some enjoyment for the supporters," said Mowbray.
