As Robbie Keane signs new terms for Tottenham, his future in London looks bright, writes Dominic Fifield

This has been a season to endure rather than enjoy for Robbie Keane, but even this most testing of campaigns is primed for a happy ending. Just two days after making a winning start to his career as Republic of Ireland captain, Keane pledged his future to Tottenham Hotspur by signing a new four-year contract.

The Dubliner's career has been full of surprise twists - nobody predicted that he would move from Coventry to Inter Milan aged only 20 - but this latest development is still a shock. Keane has been relegated to a bit-part role at White Hart Lane for much of the season, making only 14 Premiership starts, and he had been expected to seek a move to either Everton or Aston Villa in the summer transfer window. Indeed, only six weeks ago, he admitted he was in no rush to sign an extension to his current deal, which was due to expire in the summer of 2007.

That reluctance has now dissipated. The 25-year-old has been impressed by Spurs' evolution into Champions League contenders under their Dutch manager, Martin Jol, and is clearly in no mood to desert one of the Premiership's most upwardly mobile outfits.

"This is a club that is going places," he said. "I believe that and it is the reason why I signed in the first place. I had the feeling it was a club going in the right direction and I still believe this, especially with how the team are doing and the quality of players that have been bought in. I am happy and have a lot of good friends here."

Keane's new deal caps a fine week for the striker, who edged out Shay Given in the race to be appointed Steve Staunton's first captain and celebrated by scoring in the 3-0 romp over Sweden at Lansdowne Road on Wednesday. If all Staunton's decisions reap such spectacular and instantaneous rewards, Ireland can look forward to a bright future.

For Chris Hughton, Keane's assistant manager at Spurs and his former coach with Ireland, his appointment was merely the latest staging post in a career which has always appeared fast-tracked to greatness.

"It's very pleasing but not a surprise," said Hughton. "I knew who the two candidates would be and Shay and Robbie were definitely the right people to be considered.

"I know that Steve thinks it was important to have an outfield player as the skipper but Robbie was appointed for other reasons as well. He has grown in stature in Ireland and become a very impressive person.

"People forget how young Robbie is and how much he has achieved, in terms of games played and goals scored. He's got tremendous respect within the Ireland squad, not just for his ability on the field, but also the contribution he makes off it. The feeling is that he is someone you would like to line up with."

Keane's performance, and goal, against the Swedes will go a long way to silencing doubters who suspected the striker lacked the necessary fire for captaincy. Keane will never possess the volcanic temperament of his namesake Roy, but it would be wrong to suggest he lacks steel.

"Leaders come in different shapes and forms," Hughton added. "We're all aware that there are certain people who scream and shout and then there are others who might be quieter, but they lead by example. Robbie probably fits into that category.

"One of the best things about him is that you know that he will always give 100 per cent for the team and the country. I know that it means the world to him to be made leader of his country: he's that sort of personality."

But if Keane's transition to international captain was a smooth one, his progress at White Hart Lane has been bumpier. There is an awkward paradox in having the captain of a national side reduced to bench-warming duties with his club, but that is Keane's prickly predicament at Spurs.

Jol has acknowledged that he cannot play the Dubliner with Jermain Defoe, another slight striker who relies more on his brain than his brawn, and currently it is the Englishman who is acting as the foil for the burly Mido.

Keane will almost certainly be among the substitutes for tomorrow's meeting with Blackburn, a game which has acquired an added importance after Rovers' surprise charge towards the top four, and it is a scenario which is beginning to grow wearyingly predictable.

"Robbie understands the situation here and I don't think there are any problems," insisted Hughton. "He's having a great season for us and helped us get where we are. That has given him terrific confidence and he is now taking that on to his form on the international stage. I know he's happy."

It would have been easy to treat Hughton's words as mere platitudes, had Keane not given them emphatic confirmation by signing his new contract yesterday. It was a decision that proves that Spurs' much-trumpeted ambition is not mere bluster, and that Keane has mastered the art of compromise, as well as surprise.