Sir Alex Ferguson enjoys dabbling in the mind games before big games and this week it has been no different. He spoke of his surprise that Liverpool had forked out a whopping £20.3million for Robbie Keane.

When asked if he had been impressed by any other club’s transfer dealings, Fergie replied, “the big surprise was Liverpool paying £20million for Keane.”

Whilst proving himself as a good quality Premiership player, questions certainly have to be asked over whether he is worth that amount of money. Had Liverpool scooped him up up £10-15 million, it would be hard to agree it was a decent looking transfer, but most fans of football can be united in saying Liverpool paid over the odds for him.

If Liverpool are serious about competing for the title, then they need to be serious in the transfer market as well. Neither United nor Chelsea would buy Keane, particularly not for £20 million! He wouldn’t even get on United’s bench. That’s not a snide remark, but the simple truth.

So what has Keane got to say in reponse?

“I’m very surprised John O’Shea doesn’t play for United every week,” said Keane. “Football is about opinions and I respect everybody’s opinion.”

Sarcasm or truth? Neither interpretation reflects too kindly on Keane, it has to be said. If he’s taking the piss, then he’s taking the piss out of his compatriot who’s got close to 50 caps under his belt for Ireland. Not the best tactic for boosting morale.

Or, he’s being serious, in which case, he needs his head checking. Whilst John O’Shea will always be loved for the last minute goal in front of the Kop, you’d be hard pressed to find any United fans believing O’Shea should play every week.

However, the unfortunate thing about this scenerio is that Fergie is setting Keane up to score against us. Having struggled to do much of anything since joining the dippers, he now has all the motivation in the World to become an Anfield hero and score his first club goal against their hateful rivals.

Saying that, there’s every potential for Dimitar Berbatov to score his first goal, with Tevez, Rooney and who knows, even John O’Shea, adding insult to injury.

Roll on Saturday…