Liverpool have completed the signing of Tottenham and Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane in a four-year deal which could be worth up to £20.3million to the north London club.
<notforsyndication>In Pictures: Robbie Keane's Career</notforsyndication>
In a statement issued on Monday night, Keane said: 'I would like to place on record my thanks to the board, players and fans of Tottenham for the past six years, which were the best and most enjoyable of my career to date.
'I will never forget them. I would specifically like to thank chairman Daniel Levy for understanding, that, as a fan, joining Liverpool is a lifelong dream of mine and one I couldn't let pass me by.
'I hope one day the Spurs fans, who have been brilliant to me, can understand this too.
'I have only good things to say about my time at Tottenham and expect them to go from strength to strength under Juande Ramos and Daniel Levy.'
Earlier, Levy said: 'I have already made my opinion clear on the nature of this transaction. I don't regard it as a transfer deal - that is something which happens between two clubs when they both agree to trade - this is very much an enforced sale, for which we have agreed a sum of £19million as compensation plus a potential further £1.3million in additional compensation.'
Keane, the 28-year-old Republic of Ireland captain, agreed a four-year deal at Anfield after undergoing a medical at Liverpool's Melwood training ground and could now form a mouth-watering partnership in attack with Fernando Torres.
With the possibility of midfielder Xabi Alonso now staying at the club, Benitez may have to sell Jermaine Pennant, Andriy Voronin and Alvaro Arbeloa to balance to books. It could mean that Gareth Barry's transfer saga from Aston Villa may drag into the new season.
Keane is the Republic of Ireland's all-time record goalscorer with 33 goals in 81 internationals.
Spurs have effectively lost their captain as Keane took the armband while Ledley King has been absent through injury.
Head coach Juande Ramos, meanwhile, is set to concentrate his efforts away from Valencia striker David Villa when he targets a replacement up front for Keane.
Villa, the 26-year-old Spain international, has been made available this summer but it is understood that Spurs expect the top goalscorer at Euro 2008 to end up at Real Madrid.
Public encouragement from his agent, inviting Spurs to bid last week, was interpreted as an attempt to prompt the Spanish giants into action.
With Keane edging towards a transfer to Liverpool, Ramos is in the market for at least one forward and recently suggested he was not in the race for Espanyol's Luis Garcia.
Zenit St Petersburg have invited Spurs to make an offer of more than £20million for Russia forward Andrei Arshavin, while Roman Pavlyuchenko, his international team-mate and destroyer of England in Moscow last year, has also been mentioned as a possibility.
Two strikers could be required as Dimitar Berbatov could depart - reports may have suggested Manchester United are cooling interest but Spurs are braced for a fresh bid before the end of the transfer window.
Elsewhere, Tottenham want to add Blackburn's David Bentley and have also looked at Sevilla's Diego Capel, both wide players, and they are expected to sign another centre-back.
