Benitez plays it down but Keane trail grows

MANCHESTER City and Newcastle United are said to have joined Spurs in monitoring Robbie Keane’s position at Liverpool but Rafa Benitez worked hard to play down speculation on the Republic of Ireland striker’s future yesterday, insisting his late summer signing could still prove a key player over the latter half of the season.

“People are talking too much about Keane,” said the Spaniard. “It was just one decision about one player, he wasn’t in the squad so he had a day off on Sunday like the rest of the players who were not involved in the game. He trained on Monday, he trained today and he will be in the squad at Wigan.”

Asked whether the Dubliner’s return to the panel for this evening’s game had been prompted by Keane’s confronting him over his omission at the weekend, Benitez kicked to touch. “It is nothing to do with whether he talked to me about the situation,” he said. “Every player has trained very hard this week, as has Robbie, and he will be in the squad.

Privately, the Liverpool manager is said to be open to allowing Keane to leave if the right offer came along but reluctant to take a substantial loss on a purchase that set the club back over €21.1 million less than six months ago.

City could certainly match the fee paid then but are believed to view Keane as no more than a fall back for Blackburn’s Roque Santa Cruz who they remain determined to bring to Eastlands. Spurs are said to have made an enquiry about bringing Keane back to White Hart Lane and could cancel the outstanding balance of the fee but Benitez wants to do better than merely cut his losses, not least because a quality replacement would be difficult to secure.

“A lot of clubs have been asking about some players, to buy or loan. But we have said we do not need to lose anyone, we do not need to sell anyone now,” said Benitez. “We do not want to lose players now if we cannot replace those players later. We need all of them for the race for the title.

“Everyone is now important for us,” he continued. “We have a lot of games to play in the coming weeks, in the league, cup and Europe. We will need everyone. People may not always play but two weeks later we may have an injury and then we need them.

“Everyone, including Robbie, is training well. He has experience and hopefully he will be an important player for us. When Fernando Torres was injured, Robbie was working hard and doing well. If he can continue to do this we will not have any doubts over his quality. He will be in the squad and if he can score goals then I will be happy.

“Robbie is a good player, we knew that when we signed him. Maybe he is not playing at his best level, but he wants to fight for his position. If you want to be in a top side then you must have this mentality. You have to accept that some players will play and some will not. He must be available and ready for every game. To do that he must work hard and then if we consider he can give us something then we will use him, no problem.”

Talks about Shay Given’s proposed move from Newcastle to City ended last night in stalemate but the deal is still expected to go through in the coming days.

Newcastle were said to be holding out yesterday for a fee for Given comparable to the €13 million paid by City to Chelsea for Wayne Bridge or the €15 million West Ham received from the club for Craig Bellamy.

A clear indication the goalkeeper could be on his way came yesterday when Steve Harper signed a three-year extension to a contract due to expire in June. Harper, 33, has spent 19 years at St James’ Park, most of it as an understudy, much of it to Given.

Both Harper and Given were scheduled to travel for tonight’s game at, coincidentally, City but Harper is expected to start and Tim Krul, the third-choice goalkeeper newly recalled from a loan at Carlisle, is on standby.

Newcastle’s preference has always been for Given’s move to involve a player travelling in the other direction and Richard Dunne is believed to be one of their targets. The Dubliner, however, says he sees the time he has spent at City as giving him an advantage in his battle to be part of what he is hoping will be a glittering new era.

“We all have to play a part,” he says, “and we know if we do not perform to the best of our ability in training and matches then we might not be here that long in what looks like an exciting future.

“But the opportunity is there for any player who has been at this club a long time, and knows how bad things have been at different stages, to grab the opportunity to be involved in good times. It is up to individuals to take the chance.”

Like Stephen Ireland on Monday, Dunne goes out of his way to heap praise on Mark Hughes and his coaching staff who, he believes, have had a major impact on the players’ fitness levels which, he hopes, will pay dividends over the coming months.

“What the manager and the coaches have brought here is a full package of hard training and hard fitness,” he says. “We are doing things in training at the moment that everyone is just breezing through because of the hard work we have put in. The manager has been saying for a long time that in the second half of the season we will be a lot fitter and stronger than other teams and while at the time you are maybe not sure – the evidence can be seen now in training.

“There are lots of teams who haven’t got going this season on a consistent basis,” he continues, “and I suppose we are one of those but we are thinking positively and about climbing out of the scramble in the middle and bottom of the table. Statistically, we are still close enough to sixth or seventh place so we will still be trying to qualify for Europe.”