Robbie Keane today stated that he is relishing the prospect of teaming up with Fernando Torres after completing his £20.3million move from Tottenham to Liverpool.
Keane, the 28-year-old Republic of Ireland captain, has agreed a four-year deal at Anfield and is now determined to establish a mouth-watering partnership in attack with Spain striker Torres.
"He has been a revelation since he came to the Premier League. He was absolutely outstanding last year and also in the Euros with Spain," said Keane this morning.
"It is hard to leave Tottenham with some of the players they had - like Dimitar Berbatov, who I had a great relationship with - but Torres is probably the best striker in the world
right now. Hopefully we can play a lot of games together and do well."
Keane, who will wear Liverpool’s famous number seven shirt, should play just off Torres in the Liverpool formation, and hopes to bridge the gap between midfield and Torres.
He said: "I see myself as a second striker. I can play off the shoulder, link things up and play in the hole.
“You are always judged on scoring goals as a striker and I have always scored a lot of goals. Hopefully I can continue that here at Liverpool."
The new Reds frontman turned down Liverpool as a 14-year-old in favour of joining Wolves, and is relieved the opportunity to join the club he supports came up again.
"The last four years have been great for me and I believe I am at my peak," he said.
Keane will love wearing the number seven shirt, famously worn by Anfield legends including Kenny Dalglish and Kevin Keegan.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez revealed: "We were talking about the number, and the big names that have had this number, so it will be inspirational for him to have it too."
Benitez added: “We were looking for a player with game intelligence and good movement who could play alongside Torres.”
Keane is all set to make his Liverpool debut at Villarreal in a pre-season friendly tomorrow night.
Keane: Torres is perfect partner
Torres targets trophies
Torres scored the only goal of this summer's European Championship final to hand Spain victory over Germany in June and he is now eager for more success.
Liverpool have not lifted a trophy in two years and Torres - who joined the Reds last summer in a record-breaking move from Atletico Madrid - is hopeful he can help end that wait.
The 24-year-old netted 33 goals in his debut campaign in England and he is eager to repeat that form this term in order to repay the Anfield faithful for supporting Spain last month.
"Euro 2008 was my first major title, but I don't want it to end here," Torres, who returned to pre-season training with his club on Friday, said in the Daily Mirror.
"I want it to be the first of many titles because I want to win trophies with Liverpool. I know how much that would mean to the club and the fans.
"They gave me terrific support during Euro 2008 and I know they were cheering for Spain, which is something I will never forget."
Torres has also admitted his gratitude to Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez for aiding his development into one of Europe's most feared frontmen."The goals I scored for Liverpool last season gave me the confidence I need to take into the finals," added Torres.
"I have to thank Rafa and the staff for the help they have given me. I improved as a player because of them.
"Rafa is obsessed with details and he even had a (training) programme worked out for me before I got here last summer.
"He makes crazy demands on us. At the end of training when we're all tired he can still make us repeat routines 20 or 30 times."
Torres is clever on the ball
The Spanish striker, who scored the winner against Germany in the Euro 2008 final, has been celebrating with a break in the Bahamas.
And the adopted Scouser showed his true “Brit abroad” status by wearing a knotted hanky and snapping away at lovely girlfriend Olalla.
A fellow hotel guest said: “They’ve been a lovely couple, making sure they’re well creamed up with sunblock and spending lazy days by the beach taking pictures of each other.
“He is a lucky lad, she is gorgeous.”
The 24-year-old, bought for £20million last year from Atlético Madrid, will meet up with Liverpool teammates later this month to begin pre-season training ahead of the new season on August 16.
Torres Speaks To German Newspaper
Fernando Torres has spoken for the first time to respected German daily newspaper Wunter Under Meijer about how he didn't think his Liverpool career would be as happy as it has turned out.Torres explains that he quickly became disillusioned by post-match remarks by Rafa Benitez that he found ''bizarre''.''It was a bit strange alright. After the Chelsea game at Anfield, Rafa was praising my goal. It all sounded nice until he seemed to imply that I was using stimulants to enhance my game. The journalist asked Rafa if he thought I would cut it in the Premiership and Rafa said 'For sure, Fernando brings a lot to the team because he has Koala Tea and if we play with high tempo, the right mentality and create chances he will score goals, for sure'. I wasn't happy with his implications that I would take any stimulants or steal from a Koala bear but I bit my tongue.''But the perceived accusations from Benitez kept coming though, and Torres was getting more and more uncomfortable with it. ''I'd score another hat-trick and straight away Rafa would be in the media, saying things like I score because of my Koala Tea. Eventually though, I asked Xabi Alonso about it, and he told me that when Rafa says you have Koala Tea he doesn't mean it as an insult but as a compliment. I still to this day don't know what Koala Tea has to do with football, but Rafa sure does talk about it a lot.''