Robbie Keane is expected to earn in the region of £1.75 million sterling a year, after reaching agreement on a £13 million deal which will tie him to Inter Milan for the next five years.

The move from Coventry City, which is conditional on the player passing a medical examination today, was concluded after the 20-year-old Dubliner had spoken with the club directors in Milan on Saturday.

It represents a huge increase on the money he was earning at Coventry but still leaves him some way adrift of his Republic of Ireland colleague, Roy Keane who earns approximately £2.5 million with Manchester United.

Keane lost no time in getting to know his new team-mates and last night watched them in a pre-season game against Kuwait's Olympic team at a venue near Florence.

"It's a great career move for me and I can't wait to get started," he said. "I have joined one of the biggest clubs in the world and the prospect of playing alongside some of the best players in the game is very exciting."

"I've always had confidence in my own ability and while this is the biggest challenge I've faced, I believe I can handle it."

Keane, widely regarded as one of the most exciting young players in the Premiership last season, has been repeatedly linked with a move to mainland Europe ever since making his debut at Wolves as a 16-year-old. Yet the Inter Milan deal, when it came, took many by surprise.

The Milan club had sought to strengthen the squad with the purchase of Lazio's Chilean striker Marcelo Salas. Only when the Salas deal fell through last week, did Inter re-activate their long-standing interest in Keane, as confirmed by club owner, Massimo Moratti.

"We decided to move for Keane just three days ago. He's a good player, technically gifted and we'll give him plenty of time to grow. However, I'm sure that, being an Irishman, Robbie hasn't come here just to be the baby of the squad. All over the world, people know what it means to be Irish and by that I mean that we won't have to wait too long for him. I don't think he is terrified at the idea of having to compete with such as Ronaldo and Vieri for a team place, on the contrary that'll just be an extra motivation for him."

At 20, Keane is the youngest Premiership player to try his luck in the cauldron of Italian football but Liam Brady, who numbered Inter Milan among his four Italian clubs in a seven-year period after leaving Arsenal in 1980, has no doubts about his ability to make good.

"Italy was a great move for me and I think it can also be a great move for Robbie," he said. "I watched him in the European under-18 finals in Cyprus a couple of years ago and I reckoned he was a class act."

"I'm sure that's when Inter first became aware of him and I'm pretty certain they've been tracking him ever since. But they waited until they saw how he made out in the Premiership before moving to sign him.

"He's a bit young to be making a move like this but I have the impression of a wise old head on young shoulders. It will, of course, be a big challenge for him, settling into a different environment and competing for a first team place among an exceptionally strong squad of 20 or 24 players.

"Knowing the Italians, they expect results from day one, but Robbie will see that as just another reason to make an early impact. This move is going to make him a wealthy boy and I've every confidence in his ability to succeed."

Mick McCarthy has always expressed a preference for his players performing at the highest level and to that extent, he'll be delighted with the move. He may have a concern, however, about Keane's ability to get into the team on a regular basis.

The other worry for McCarthy is whether the player will be able to negotiate his release for non-competitive international games as often as he did during his spells with Wolves and Coventry.

Brady insisted on a clause going into his contract which enabled him to play in the vast majority of Ireland's games in the 1980s but in his case, he was able to negotiate from a position of relative strength. It remains to be seen if Keane can be as persuasive with his new employers.