Premier League legend Robbie Keane discussed his career on the We are Liverpool Podcast and revealed a damning truth about the early embers of his life in football.
Keane spoke about the turned-up opportunity he was presented as a teenager to join the Reds.
The only reason he didn’t was because of his mother’s advice.
The Irish international was a boyhood fan of the club and was told by his mother to join Wolves instead.
Eventually, Keane would go on to play for Liverpool when he arrived from Tottenham Hotspur, 12 years on from when he could have.
On the podcast, he spoke about his mother’s influence on deciding which team he would move to.
“Coming over to Liverpool for trials and coming to see you in the training ground, you (Fowler) were there, Collymore, John Barnes. Just seeing those big players at the time for me was great,” Keane said.
“But I chose Wolves because I thought I’d have a better chance to get a faster start at Wolves than I would at Liverpool, because you [Fowler] were there and younger players coming through at the time I didn’t know, people like Michael Owen.
“My mother said to me, ‘Don’t just choose Liverpool because you support them. Make sure you pick the team that you feel is right for you, that’s going to give you the best opportunity.’”
In hindsight, the advice was probably correct with Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen in the squad at the time meant his game time would have suffered as a result.
Instead, he impressed at Wolves and earnt himself a move abroad to European heavyweights Inter Milan and then back to England for play for Tottenham Hotspur, where he rightfully earned his ‘legend’ status.
His time on Merseyside was certainly forgettable, as he only managed five goals in 19 appearances.
There can be little complaining, though, as his extensive 25-year career of football was showered with praise and, most importantly, plenty of goals.
