According to reports Robbie Keane was in Liverpool yesterday. Or Friday. Or he was in a bar with Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher over the weekend. Which rumour is to be believed is irrelevant ;the depressing truth is that Robbie Keane's time at White Hart Lane is coming to an end.
Over the past few weeks I have witnessed the dismantling of Keane's reputation, as fans dealt with the disappointment of their hero's imminent departure by dismissing his importance and criticising his lack of loyalty. Some even suggested he be referred to as 'Judas', the term given to Sol Campbell when he took himself permanently off the Christmas card list of every Spurs fan by skipping across North London to join Arsenal in 2001.
Why such an extreme reaction? On face value there are big differences between the two deals.
Firstly, Campbell joined hated rivals Arsenal, a sin which fans have found difficult to forgive and forget. To this day his return to White Hart Lane is met with vitriol and abuse.
Secondly, if Keane makes the move north to join Liverpool then as much as £20m will make the opposite trip - £20m more than Sol Campbell generated for the club.
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That money is the omnipotent driving force behind the business that is modern football is undoubted but to the everyday fan or the die hard season ticket holder, beyond the rising price of tickets, it would seem that money is of little importance compared to loyalty.
So when Keane embarks on his quest for Champions League football, having turned his back on our clubs effort to achieve just that - an effort he effusively believed in just months before - it will matter little that, compared to Sol, he's making the club a tidy profit.
That some fans have been more than willing to compare Keane to Campbell is a mark of just how cheated they feel by a player who they held close to their affections, and understandably so.
In the weeks and months before Liverpool's very public interest in the Irishman, Keane stated his love for Tottenham and openness to the idea of finishing his career at White Hart Lane.
In May he told Sky Sports: "There's always speculation that I'm going here, there and everywhere but I'm very content with my life and with my time at Spurs."
And, just a month before he said on the club's official website:
That a footballer says one thing then does the complete opposite should not come as any surprise. We are fans of a sport whose moral compass has strayed the game off course. It's governing head can say that its multi-million pound players are modern day slaves without batting an eyelid or apologising. Furthermore, a sport where the pampered player in question agrees.
This is a business in which loyalty and commitment are commodities that can be bought or sold with the addition of an extra zero on the end of a pay cheque. The likes of Ryan Giggs or Paul Scholes - consummate professionals who are one club men - are a dying breed. That said, it's easier to be loyal when your club wins the league more often than not.
Although fans should not be surprised that Keane is quick to abandon ship, that doesn't mean it hurts any less. For all the cynicism in the stands, there is always the hope that certain players are different. Now it's difficult to watch Robbie's jubilant jig at the final whistle of the 5-1 drubbing with Arsenal without wondering whether it was all just a façade.
I've spoken to fans who say that there are some players you just cant imagine playing for anyone else. Some might say Keane had become one of those.
In his six years at the club he scored over a hundred goals, many of them spectacular examples of his undoubted ability, and his celebrations at Wembley in February seemed to be those of a man who had found his footballing home. Dimitar Berbatov's desire to leave for similar reasons hasn't been met with the same disenchantment partially because the White Hart Lane faithful figured him for a mercenary long ago. Their only mistake was to believe Keane was any different.
The saga itself is typical of the prevailing climate. The same feeling of betrayal and disappointment is being felt at Villa Park and at Old Trafford, to lesser or greater degree, and it would seem that not even Manchester United are safe from the lure of a greener shade of grass. Villa fans must be hurting more than most, having seen Barry grow as a footballer through the youth system only to find him desperate to move just at the moment the club are on the verge of genuine progression.
Such is the trend. With the direction the game is heading it is not inconceivable that, in the no so distant future, the transfer window system will be dropped to incorporate an American style 'draft', where the best players are casually traded from year to year based on salary, the transfer fee a thing of the past. It's a logical step for a sport that is becoming more and more franchised as times go by.
When he leaves, I won't wish Keane misfortune. I will thank him for his effort and for his goals and wish him well for the future. If there's one thing the disappointment of losing Sol taught me is that bitterness is not the friend of progress. After Sol the club spent too much time feeling sorry for itself and not enough time on proving him wrong. Hopefully, we won't make the same mistake twice.