Soccer:Robbie Keane's short-term loan move to Aston Villa is on the verge of being completed after the Republic of Ireland captain trained with his prospective new teammates in Birmingham this morning. The LA Galaxy striker is expected to join on a two-month loan deal during the MLS off-season.
Villa released footage of the 31-year-old training on their official website with the club due to dot the I’s and cross the T’s regarding the paperwork later today. Villa boss Alex McLeish revealed after the club’s FA Cup third-round victory over Bristol Rovers on Saturday he expected to wrap up the signing of the former Tottenham man early this week.
If the paperwork is completed in time Keane could make his debut against Everton on Saturday, where he will come up against his Galaxy team-mate Landon Donovan, who is on loan at Goodison Park.
“You are now talking about a guy who is at his peak,” McLeish said of the Dubliner at the weekend. “At 19 there is a lot you don’t know, but at 31 you certainly know a lot more. He can make up for it if he is not as quick as he was at 19 because he has got the quickness in the head.
“We got a report from Tottenham (where Keane had been keeping up his fitness) that he looks in much better condition than he did this time last year when he went to West Ham.That’s what we are hearing, he’s in tip-top shape.
“The fact that the Irish boys have the Euro 2012 tournament to look forward to means Robbie wants to be at his peak. We’ve been speaking ‘Is that the right way to go forward?’ and he feels ‘Yes’, he wants to keep right on top of his sharpness, so if he has that kind of motivation it can only be good for us.
“It will give everybody a lift, the team, the staff, the whole lot, more importantly for the fans. Any fan identifies with players who give absolutely everything for the team, they are always turned on by that, they are motivated by people running through brick walls for the club and Robbie is that type of player.”
