Robbie Keane hails former Tottenham star as his best-ever strike partner, he reveals the secret to their success

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Spurs have undoubtedly been blessed with some truly great striker partnerships throughout the years.

Back in the 1990s, White Hart Lane witnessed the iconic pairing of Teddy Sheringham and Jurgen Klinsmann, which was later followed by successful partnerships like Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch’s link-up.

More recent years have seen Harry Kane and Heung-min Son’s record-breaking partnership take the Premier League by storm – with Kyle Walker even hailing Louis Saha and Emmanuel Adebayor’s unlikely Spurs link-up.

But when it comes to questioning who actually is Tottenham’s best-ever strike partnership, there is one that always holds a special place in the hearts of Spurs supporters – and that is the partnership of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov.

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Robbie Keane names Dimitar Berbatov as his best-ever strike partner

With modern football now reverting away from striker partnerships, it is now rare to see a forward pairing bang goals in like Keane and Berbatov did for Spurs in the mid to late 2000s.

The Irish and Bulgarian duo would light up the Premier League during their two seasons together, with Berbatov scoring 46 and Keane scoring 45 before the pair went their separate ways in moves to Manchester United and Liverpool.

Now both retired from the game, Keane has since reflected on his time with his former Spurs partner, telling the Rio Presents YouTube channel that Berbatov was his best-ever strike partner.

“We didn’t really know him (Berbatov) too much because he came from Leverkusen and we already had myself, Defoe and I think Benty was there. During his first week of training, I saw a couple of things, similar to Luka Modric, the first week I just knew me and him could play together.

“Me and Berba had that understanding. As soon as he went, I came and that’s why we were so difficult for defenders to play against because they didn’t know whether I was coming or he was going. The thing is with me and Berba we weren’t selfish for each other, I would get more of a buzz assisting him and him scoring – and vice versa. I think that was the difference why me and him was so successful together because we were just happy for each other to score.

Keane and Berbatov’s Tottenham stats

Having helped Spurs win the League Cup in 2008, Keane and Berbatov’s iconic duo is no doubt up there when it comes to ranking Tottenham’s best-ever partnerships.

With so many dangerous duos to reflect on throughout Spurs history, it is worth taking a look at the stats to see which partnership tops them all.

Only being trumped by the brilliance of Kane, it is fair to say that Keane and Berbatov’s partnership well and truly earns its place on the list of Tottenham’s best-ever striking duos.