Hammers sign up former Red

Jan 31 2011 Liverpool Echo

WEST HAM have completed the loan signing of Robbie Keane from Premier League rivals Spurs.

The Hammers have agreed a deal which takes the former Liverpool striker initially on loan until the end of the season with a view to making a £6million deal permanent for the next two-and-a-half years, as long as they maintain their top flight status.

Keane said: “I am ready to help West Ham stay in the Premier League, which is the most important thing for this club.”

Keane passed a medical and put pen to paper on a contract after watching yesterday's 3-2 defeat of Nottingham Forest which puts the Hammers in the last 16 of the FA Cup.

He said: “I am really pleased to have signed and now I just can’t wait to start training and playing football.

“I feel as fit as I ever have done in my life and I feel I have plenty left to offer at the highest level for at least the next four or five years.

“I want to help anywhere I can help the football club, whether that is in training, in the dressing room or on the pitch on a matchday.

“We have some good players here and I am sure we can stay up.

“When I went on loan to Celtic I scored 17 goals in 19 games and if I can do even half as well as I did there, then I’ll be happy.”

Hammers boss Avram Grant said: “He (Keane) is not just a good player, he is a good character that we need in the next 14 games.”