 Keane scored five goals in 19 appearances for Liverpool
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Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez says he let Robbie Keane rejoin Tottenham because the striker had failed to settle in the team.
Keane signed a four-year deal at Spurs, with the fee starting at £12m and rising with add-ons, six months after he left the club for an initial £19m.
Benitez told the Reds' website: "Sometimes good players cannot settle in the team. You have to react quickly.
"It is a risk but the situation was not good and we needed to do something."
The Republic of Ireland captain joined Liverpool from Spurs in July in a deal which could have risen to £20.3m, but he failed to establish himself in the team.
Keane, 28, managed only five goals in 19 appearances for the club he supported as a boy and admitted his summer transfer "proved not to be the right move for me".
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I would like to wish Robbie the best because although things did not work out he has been working hard for us
Rafael Benitez
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Benitez said Keane's quick return to north London was best for all concerned and refuted suggestions that the player's departure meant the title hopefuls were too reliant on Spain striker Fernando Torres.
"We still have Ryan Babel, David Ngog and Dirk Kuyt as well as Torres," said Benitez, whose team trail Premier League leaders Manchester United by two points.
"If it is not good for the team then it is better for everyone to make a decision, and because of the situation in the transfer market and the opportunity for the player we had to do it now.
"I have to analyse things and try to look at the bigger picture and this means thinking of the club and the team and what is best for them."
Benitez added that Tottenham had shown a great desire to re-sign Keane.
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606: DEBATE
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"I would like to wish Robbie the best because although things did not work out he has been working hard for us," said the Spaniard.
"He was trying to do his best and the key was that Spurs showed a lot of interest and they were pushing really hard for him.
"The player needed to play and he was not doing that as much as he would have liked with us.
"But I cannot criticise him in any way because, as I have said, he tried to do his best for us."
Former Liverpool and Republic of Ireland striker John Aldridge questioned whether Liverpool now had sufficient attacking depth to win the title.
"Look at the players they have had in the last four years. Michael Owen was sold, Robbie Fowler has been and gone, Peter Crouch and now Robbie Keane," he said.
"To sustain a challenge on Manchester United you have got to have one if not more of those players on top of what we have got at the moment.
"Dirk Kuyt can play up front, Ryan Babel at a push and then there's the lad (David) Ngog, who is nowhere near the quality needed, he's a young lad. There are certainly not enough options."
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