Had Keane perhaps played well against us at some point? Rafa sometimes based his transfer policy on that didn’t he? We took Crouch because Rafa was impressed by his scoring twice against us. I have a feeling Keane did something similar.
I would take a rough guess and say Rafa preferred leaders, fighters and hard workers. Take for example the best starting XI under Rafa. Say, the 2008/09 season.
Torres
Benny - Gerrard - Kuyt
Alonso - Mascha
Aurelio - Carra - Hyypia - Arbeloa
Reina
Torres was Atletico 2nd captain. Benny was Israel captain. Kuyt was a hard worker. Alonso was a hard worker. Mascha was a fighter. Aurelio was, well questionable. But that's why it was a problem area for us back then. Carra was a leader and fighter. Hyypia was a leader and fighter. Arbeloa was a hard worker. Reina was a leader and fighter. We had Lucas who was a hard worker and I think he was Gremio Vice Captain. Babel was a hard worker, even though he hardly worked. Agger, Skrtel, Spearing, El Zhar, Darby, Degen, Insua, Plessis, and Nemeth formed the rest of the squad.
We looked at Keane was because he was a hard worker. He did all the work behind Berbatov at Tottenham. Berbatov was a lazy goat. Keane, on the other hand, was not. He worked very very well as a second striker. But we had Gerrard in that AM/SS position. And he was the best out there. So, having Babel (who preferred a central role as opposed to the LW position) and Riera (who was a LW but hardly ever set that role for himself with his attacking mentality leaving Aurelio/Insua exposed) might have made sense if Keane was working as a second striker behind Babel. That way, rotating Benny and Kuyt on the right with Mascha behind them in a sort of 4-4-1-1 role would have been our plan-B. Plus Benny could also play the AM/SS role albeit with less effect. But it was possible.
Hellrazor doesnt think so, but I think we had our sights on Jovetic from Partizan in the summer of 2008. Jovetic was Partizan's youngest ever captain back then. That would have liberated Babel upfront and we would have been 9 players for 6 positions. But because of the Alonso situation, Barry, Jovetic and Upson/Distin never materialised. And we ended up buying Keane without the rest and had to settle for titbit transfers. If only we had beaten Middlesbourough. Sigh!