Benitez puts pressure on Spurs over Robbie Keane's future

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is reported to be stepping up his efforts to sign Tottenham s Robbie Keane. But Tottenham insist the star striker, scorer of more than 20 goals last season, isn t for sale. Liverpool are believed to be preparing a £20milli

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is reported to be stepping up his efforts to sign Tottenham's Robbie Keane.

But Tottenham insist the star striker, scorer of more than 20 goals last season, isn't for sale.

Liverpool are believed to be preparing a £20million in the belief that Spurs will use the cash to finance the signing of Blackburn and England wide man David Bentley.

The transfer speculation involving Keane has been made even more tantalising by the fact that Tottenham have received no concrete offers for Bulgarian international Dimitar Berbatov.

Benitez is thought to prefer Keane, with his proven track record in the Premiership, to Valencia's David Villa, who dropped out of the victorious Spanish starting line-up during Euro 2008 despite scoring a hat trick in the opening encounter.

He has been open about his desire to sign Keane, saying earlier this week that he was an intelligent player who could fit into the Liverpool system and improve the team generally. With the sale of Peter Crouch to Portsmouth, Keane would team up with Fernando Torres, scorer of the winning goal for Spain in Euro2008.

But the Benitez approach isn't appreciated at White Hart Lane, with Spurs determined to hold on to their Republic of Ireland striker.