"I am learning the language, have moved into an apartment and have made a number of new friends. Everything is going really well here."

Yet Robbie Keane's time at Inter Milan lasted as long as his £13M July 2000 signing date up to the moment he was loaned to Leeds United that December.

But why did a player then-Inter boss - and future World Cup-winning manager - Marcelo Lippi regarded as the "best [young player] that he saw" at the time not last longer at the San Siro?

Listen to the full interview on Keane and the Italian ultra fan culture with Richard Hall on the podcast player or download on iTunes:

He only played in six Serie A games (a total of 272 minutes), while his goals came in other competitions. 

It was nothing to do with settling in, with all indications that he was adapting to life in Italy, getting on well with team-mates including his room-mate Clarence Seedorf, and has spoken about how leaving for England at 15 means upheaval does not affect him greatly.

But on this week's Team 33, we were joined by Richard Hall, founder of The Gentleman Ultra which is part of The Guardian sport network and who also writes an Inter Milan column for ESPN.com, to talk about the on-pitch challenges that Keane faced in Lombardy.

Hall spoke to us about the circumstances of his arrival in Italy, how Inter fans regard Ireland's record goalscorer today, fifteen years on from his very brief spell there and how managerial instability involving managerial great Marcelo Lippi and Keane's future Ireland assistant boss Marco Tardelli had an impact.

Plus we also touched on the competition for places in a potent forward line and being played out of position affected Keane's chances of success during his Italian job.