Irish wonderkid Robbie Keane's dazzling displays for Wolverhampton Wanderers had the big clubs queuing up to run the rule over him, but it was Coventry City boss Gordon Strachan who took the plunge. Keane had almost joined City's West Midland rivals Aston Villa shortly before his move to Highfield Road but John Gregory refused to meet the asking price and the deal fell through. The £6, 000, 000 that Strachan parted with was a record for a teenager in British football and eyebrows were raised in some quarters at the size of the fee. Keane set about proving the doubters wrong from day one with a superb double on his debut against Derby County and in his next but one game he scored against Sunderland (see photo above). In all he was to score 12 goals in 31 League appearances with some memorable strikes along the way. In one purple patch Robbie found the net in consecutive games against Arsenal, Chelsea and Wimbledon. The Arsenal match produced a splendid 3-2 victory for the Sky Blues with Keane's cheeky little flick putting City 3-1 up and effectively clinching the three points. Such had been his impact at Highfield Road that Inter Milan boss Marcello Lippi came in with a £13 million bid and Robbie was on his way to the Italian giants after just one season at Coventry. The move represented great business for City - a £7 million profit in just a year - whilst for the player it was impossible to turn down the opportunity to join one of the most famous clubs in the world. The lure of playing with the likes of Vieri, Blanc and Ronaldo in front of 80, 000 screaming fans, in the magnificent San Siro, was simply irresistible. (David Scranage)