SOCCER:THE PROSPECT of Robbie Keane securing the move he needs to get his club career back on track during the current transfer window receded significantly yesterday when the 30-year-old striker priced himself out of a move to Birmingham City.

The combination of the fee Spurs were seeking for him and the wages he is on at White Hart Lane has always been a concern for the Dubliner’s potential suitors but having made progress on the fee front, City officials were apparently dismayed to learn Keane was actually looking to improve on the €75,000 he carts home each week in London.

City, who had agreed a fee with Tottenham of around €4.5 million plus half as much again in potential add-ons on Friday, had been hoping he would take a cut on that figure to secure regular first-team football again, although the club might have been prepared to match his current salary, which, on the basis of a three and a half year deal, would be worth more than €12 million to the player.

After speaking to Keane’s representatives and learning of his demands at the weekend, however, City issued a statement yesterday in which they announced they were ending their interest in the striker on the basis the deal did not make financial sense.

The club’s acting chairman, Peter Pannu, subsequently said: “I met with Alex (McLeish) and (chief scout) Paul (Montgomery) today to discuss some new targets – names that we will not be mentioning at this moment in time – as we have decided that the signing of Keane would not be in the best financial interests of the club.

“Everyone knows he is a tremendous player but having considered the overall package (one which certainly wasn’t unfair on the part of his representatives to ask for, given his talent and experience), Keane’s age and the length of contract we felt that financially he wasn’t the best option available.

“This is unfortunate because Keane is a class act but supporters can rest assured we are considering other options and will pursue them where financially viable.”

The news leaves Keane, who did not even make the bench for Tottenham’s game against Manchester United on Sunday, with options dwindling unless he lowers his financial expectations.

West Ham remain interested in him and that is unlikely to change in the event Martin O’Neill replaces Avram Grant, as the northerner was reported to be keen on signing him for Aston Villa before he left the club early in the season.

But the Londoners are said to be wary of his salary demands too, with the club’s board conscious of the fact costs would have to be cut back drastically in the event they are relegated at the end of the season.

Aston Villa had remained another possible destination but it emerged yesterday they are in serious pursuit of Keane’s former Tottenham team-mate Darren Bent and the Irishman’s best hope of getting out of White Hart Lane, if indeed that is what he actually wants to do, could be Sunderland’s need to sign a replacement for Bent in the event they are forced to sell. However, the prospect of Niall Quinn and co stumping up the sort of money Birmingham have declined to seems remote, to say the least.

Keane’s fellow Republic of Ireland international striker Leon Best, meanwhile, appears to have done enough in recent games to persuade Newcastle manager Alan Pardew that recruiting a forward is not a priority.

“I have been really buoyed by Shola (Ameobi) and Leon,” said Pardew, “they may just have saved me a problem looking elsewhere. Leon has been very good indeed. He got the hat-trick against West Ham and, although he found it tough at Stevenage, that was possibly a bridge too far for him because he had been out so long.

“People say he was out of sorts, but I can only judge what I can see and I don’t know if I feel I want to change things.”

Kevin Doyle says Wolves’ performance against Manchester City over the weekend will give the players at Molineux confidence for the weeks ahead despite the result not going their way.

“We have to take the positives out of it,” he says. “We were 4-1 down and it could have been six or seven but we showed great ability and character to come back, so much so that they were on the back foot for the last five or 10 minutes. We could easily have got a 4-4 draw out it.

“We’ve got a few more tough games in this spell but then we have to play everyone around us between now and the end of the season. We probably need six or seven wins between now and then and I’m not looking to anyone but ourselves; hopefully if we get those, it will be enough.”

Lee Carsley is facing a spell on the sidelines as he has surgery over the coming weeks on hernia and achilles problems. The 36-year-old has been enjoying a good season with Coventry City, where he has started all but two games, and he was recently talked out of pursuing his interest in the Walsall manager’s job by City boss Aidy Boothroyd.

Doncaster Rovers have signed Bohemians midfielder Paul Keegan until the end of the season and Irish under-21 international Jay O’Shea has returned to Birmingham after a loan spell with Stevenage.