Keane makes Anfield switch

Liverpool have completed the signing of Robbie Keane from Spurs, while Sunderland welcome El Hadji Diouf from Bolton.

Rafa Benitez continues to add to his squad.
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LIVERPOOL // Liverpool have completed the signing of Robbie Keane from Tottenham Hotspur on a four-year deal. Liverpool announced the deal on Monday after the Republic of Ireland captain passed a medical examination with the club. The teams agreed to a transfer fee over the weekend, rumoured to be in the region of £18 million (Dh131m), after the striker decided to accept an offer to join the club he supported as a boy. Keane has been with Spurs for six years, his longest spell of his career that has seen him wear the colours of Wolves, Coventry City, Inter Milan and Leeds United, and last season became the 15th player to hit 100 goals for the club. He helped Tottenham win the League Cup last season with victory over Chelsea, with his lengthy and enthusiastic celebratory jig on the Wembley pitch further cementing his status with the Spurs fans. Keane is also his country's record scorer with 33 goals and had two years remaining on his Tottenham contract. The north London club also said it would not pursue a complaint it filed to the Premier League about comments made by the Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez during the club's pursuit of the player.

Meanwhile, former Liverpool old boy El Hadji Diouf has joined Sunderland from Bolton Wanderers for an undisclosed fee, according to Sunderland's official club website. Diouf, 27, the African Footballer of the Year in 2001-02, agreed a four-year contract with Sunderland whose manager Roy Keane said he was delighted with the move. "El Hadji has always been the kind of player opposition teams and supporters love to hate, a thorn in the side. We're thrilled to get him," he said. The Sengal international joined Bolton in 2004 after previously playing for Liverpool and is Sunderland's third major signing in the last week following the transfers of defender Pascal Chimbonda and midfielder Teemo Tainio from Tottenham. He also had spells with Lens, Sochaux and Rennes in France. At the same time as Diouf's departure, Bolton announced on their website the signing of the Ghana-born Dutch midfielder Riga Mustapha, subject to international clearance, from Spanish club Levante. *Agencies