There will have been much agitation in boardrooms all over England with yesterday's claim by Chelsea that they have agreed a £12 million sterling fee with Inter Milan for the services of Robbie Keane, but it will have been most acute at Elland Road. There will be embarrassment and anger if Chelsea have somehow sneaked in front of Leeds United.

Yet last night a spokesman for Inter told The Irish Times that while they expect to conclude a deal with an English club regarding Keane before Christmas, they added that, at the moment, both Keane and Inter were still evaluating a number of different offers from English Premiership sides, including Chelsea:

"Nothing has been concluded for the time being. Robbie is assessing all the different offers and I can assure you there are a lot of them, a lot of English clubs are interested in the player. Robbie wants to take his time and make the right choice," said the club spokesman.

The only comment last night from the Chelsea managing director, Colin Hutchinson, was to confirm they had made contact has been made with the Serie A club. "We have had discussions with Inter Milan about Robbie Keane," he said.

For the past month it has been Leeds' understanding that they have first call on Keane should he return to England, an understanding based not least on conversations with the player and his representatives.

Leeds is the club Keane wants to join if he is forced out of Inter. He does not want to join Chelsea, a club in turmoil. Leeds, with the Irish connection of David O'Leary, Gary Kelly, Ian Harte and Stephen McPhail, and huge ambition, is far more appealing.

Despite spending £18 million on Rio Ferdinand, beating the £12 million offered by Chelsea would "not be a problem" for Leeds, said a highly-placed source yesterday. But there is sufficient confidence within Elland Road that Keane will be their man that they will refuse to become involved in an auction for him. They will not pay £12 million knowing that, with Keane being the arbiter of his destination, £8 million or £9 million will get the player in January or February.

There could be a difficulty in Keane's taxation situation: if he returns to England inside the tax year, he will have to pay tax on his earnings in Italy, something which, as someone domiciled in Ireland, he does not have to do at present. But that is likely not to be a huge factor in Keane's ultimate decision.

The player has said many times that he wishes to stay in Italy, but events changed this week - the Chelsea bid was accepted on Monday despite being announced only yesterday - and Keane may now realise fully for the first time that his future does not lie with Inter.

What has, however, emerged clearly from the negotiations this week, involving Chelsea, Leeds, Newcastle United and West Ham, is that Inter are now determined to sell Keane. Sources close to Inter yesterday rejected English press speculation that Keane had refused to move back to England.