Wolves failed in bid for Keane return

Wolves failed in a shock loan bid to hand Robbie Keane an emotional return to Molineux.

The attempt for the Tottenham striker, who last night joined Glasgow Celtic until the end of the season, emerged today as the most high profile failed bid in the January transfer window.

Wolves were prepared to pay Keane's full estimated £70,000 a week wages, plus a £1m-plus loan fee – which was ultimately waived as the Hoops couldn't afford it.

But the pull of joining Celtic proved too much for the 29-year-old, who left Molineux in 1999 for Coventry in a £6million move.

Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey said: "We asked about Robbie Keane and I spoke to Tottenham on a couple of occasions. We knew what his wages were and we would have done that but he wasn't going to come to us.

"Almost every loan at this level comes with a really hefty fee, but we would have pushed the boat out to get Robbie.

"In the end, the opportunity to fulfil a lifetime's ambition to play for Celtic was too much of a pull."

With fans frustrated at the lack of any permanent signings, Moxey insisted everything was done to strengthen the team.

He said: "We tried really hard for two players – Adam Johnson and Stephen Hunt – although we wouldn't have taken both, but both players were made unprecedented offers.

"We got permission from Middlesbrough to speak to Johnson and we made the best offer, which would have broken our transfer record, paying a lot more than Manchester City.

"They didn't sell to us for two very different reasons - Adam had got bigger fish to fry and Hull just didn't want to. We decided to make an early commitment to Adam because he could have been here for the next 10 years. This was all set up before Christmas. But he decided the City opportunity was just too good to turn down.

"We decided to run the Johnson and Hunt bids in parallel. We felt we actually bid far in excess of Hunt's true valuation, given his age. Our pursuit of Stephen was based on a conversation I had with Hull chairman Adam Pearson that they were desperate to raise money.

"Pearson was actively encouraging us to bid, so it seemed logical to keep testing them. We could also have had a variety of Championship players, but Mick felt they weren't right."