Robbie Keane is poised to set a new record for an Irish player in the transfer market when he travels to Italy today to discuss personal details in a proposed £13 million move to Inter Milan.
Keane, who celebrated his 20th birthday three weeks ago, will invoke a get-out clause in his contract with Coventry City to become the first Irishman since Liam Brady to play in Serie A, if the terms are acceptable.
"We have agreed to a transfer fee of £13 million with Inter Milan and the player will now go to Italy to negotiate his personal terms," said Coventry City chairman, Bryan Richardson.
When Keane joined Coventry from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a fee of £5.5 million 12 months ago, he was guaranteed permission to talk with any club offering in excess of £10 million for his signature.
Gordon Strachan, the Coventry City manager, has repeatedly said that the player's short-term future is at Highfield Road but when Richardson agreed to meet Gabriele Oriali, managing director of Inter Milan on Thursday, the Scot appeared to bow to the inevitable.
"Robbie came to the training ground this morning but left almost immediately to speak with his agent," he said. "My understanding is that he is travelling to Italy for talks with Inter Milan tomorrow.
"Ever since the player arrived at Coventry there has been speculation about him moving on to another club. I have made my feelings known about this but now we'll just have to wait and see what happens."
Keane is thought to be the highest paid player on Coventry City's staff but even so, his income falls far short of the £52,000 weekly wage Roy Keane earns at Manchester United.
The striker, who made his debut in the English Football League for Wolves at the age of 16, had earlier pledged his allegiance to Coventry City, pointing to the club's ambitious redevelopment programme as one of the reasons why he intended staying at Highfield Road.
Ultimately, however, he appears to have been swayed more by the huge financial rewards on offer in Italy and the chance of honing his skills among some of the best players in the world.
When he hit the target twice in the 5-0 European championship win over Malta at Lansdowne Road in October, 1998, he became the youngest player ever to score for the Republic of Ireland and has since gone on to add four more goals to his total.
Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy, who has never made any secret of his preference for members of his squad playing at the highest level of club football, is likely to welcome the prospect of the Dubliner joining Inter Milan.
The downside, however, is that at a club of such stature, the competition for first-team places is intense and Keane could find himself struggling to make an immediate impact.
That is a fear echoed by Eddie Corcoran, the respected Dublin football scout, who first spotted the player as a 13-year-old with Crumlin United and was eventually responsible for his move to Wolves two years later.
"To be honest, I don't think he is ready yet for a move like this," he said. "If he goes to Italy, he will have to learn a new language, settle into a totally different environment and that's asking a lot of a lad of 20."
Meanwhile, Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein insisted yesterday the £30 million package deal that has taken Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit to Barcelona was done with the full blessing of manager Arsene Wenger.
Dein admitted it was "sad to see world-class players go, especially when they are under contract" but indicated the offer from the Spanish giants was just too much to resist.
