The former Celtic player had been linked to a vacant English Premier League role.
Former Celtic forward Robbie Keane has emerged as a shock contender to become the next Tottenham Hotspur boss after being named amongst the favourites to replace Thomas Frank in North London.
The English Premier League giants opted to sack their 52-year-old head coach following a 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle United on Tuesday, with Spurs now dangling just five points ahead of West Ham United in the relegation zone.
Replacing ex-Celtic title winner manager Ange Postecoglou in the summer, Frank had been in charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for just eight months, but a club statement said they had reached the decision after “results and performances have led the board to conclude that a change at this point in the season is necessary” - and now Keane is amongst the leading favourites to replace him.
Robbie Keane had been linked with Celtic earlier this season.placeholder image
Robbie Keane had been linked with Celtic earlier this season. | Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images
The 45-year-old is currently the head coach of Hungarian side Ferencvaros, and had also been linked with a potential return to Celtic, where he scored 12 league goals during a six-month loan spell at Parkhead back in 2010, following the resignation of Brendan Rodgers back in October.
While reports linking him to Celtic Park came to an abrupt end when the club opted to appoint Wilfried Nancy in December, the former Republic of Ireland international is now rated at 11/2 to make a sensational return to Tottenham Hotspur instead, where he spent eight-and-a-half seasons during his playing career.
Despite being linked with a return to UK shores, he played down talk of a move, insisting that he is happy in his current role, where he is on course to win a second successive Hungarian top-flight title. Behind former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi and ex-Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino in the betting, Keane addressed the rumours directly while speaking to Hungarian site Nemzeti Sport on Wednesday.
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"I never dream about it,” said the Irishman. “After playing there [Spurs] the most, people back home expect me to work in England. It doesn’t work that way for me. Am I looking for the opportunity to sign for England? No. Would I like to be the manager of Liverpool? No. If they want me to be one, we can talk about it.
“I feel great at Ferencvaros, I couldn’t be in a better place right now. I am lucky because I don’t need money, I earned a living when I was a player, I don’t do it to get money at the end of the month, I am motivated by something completely different."