
Former Liverpool defender Jami Carragher has spoken honestly about one of his old boss’ most high-profile transfer moves, which happened more than a decade ago.
The Englishman spent his career as a leader in the Liverpool defence, playing under Benitez, who lead the Reds to Champions League glory in 2005.
In the summer of 2008, the club confirmed that Robbie Keane had completed a move to Anfield from Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
It was a big move at the time as Spurs gave up their talisman to Liverpool, who put together a real challenge for the Premier League title the following season.
Keane only spent half a season at Anfield, as he moved back to Tottenham, only a few months after completing his switch to Liverpool.
That climax to the striker’s Liverpool career made the decision to sign him a very strange one in the first place.
And for Carragher, there was hardly any justification of that move from Rafa Benitez over a decade ago.
As per the Liverpool Echo, Carragher said: “I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t understand why we bought Robbie in the first place.
“Robbie was a top player for Tottenham but the season before, Steven was playing up alongside [Fernando] Torres as the number 10. We had done it for the second half of the season, and I think Stevie set-up 20 goals. I was like, ‘why would you break that up?’
“It was a surprise to be honest when he came in. Him and Benitez just never clicked, straight away. Under a different manager, it would have worked.”