Striker who ended up with over 350 goals says his Mum stopped him joining Liverpool as a teen

By Charles Jones

Speaking on the We are Liverpool Podcast, Robbie Keane has been discussing his career and how he almost signed for the Reds in the 1990s.

As many will remember, Keane eventually signed for Liverpool in 2009 in a big-money move from Tottenham Hotspur, but he could’ve ended up at Anfield 12 years prior when he was just a teenager.

However, Keane would eventually decide to join Wolves, taking his mother’s advice to not just pick Liverpool because he was a boyhood fan of the club.

Keane almost signed for Liverpool as a teenager

The Irish legend discussed how he almost joined the Reds.

“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.'”

Probably the right call

It’s often said that you should always listen to your parents, and in this case that rings true.

Keane snubbed Liverpool as a teenager, and, to be honest, that was probably the right call.

As the striker noted, the likes of Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen were at the club at that time, and he probably wouldn’t have gotten into the side ahead of either of those two for a little while.

Meanwhile, he burst onto the scene at Wolves, earning himself early career moves to both Inter Milan and Leeds United before eventually settling at Tottenham and getting his move to Liverpool in the end.

Keane’s time at Liverpool didn’t work out, but 25 years and 389 career goals later, Keane can’t really have too many complaints about how his career panned out.

The striker will go down as one of the Premier League’s greats, and perhaps he wouldn’t have forged such a legacy if he’d joined Liverpool at such a young age.