As Manchester United have considered their options at centre back over the previous three summers, there’s been one defender excelling in the Premier League, someone schooled in the United traditions, a huge United fan, excellent on the ball and with a deceptive turn of pace. To make matters worse, he was a United player. They had him, and then they let him go. They let him go for £2million and now he’s probably worth close to £50million. Michael Keane will be back at Old Trafford for the sixth time since leaving the club six years ago tonight, and there will be more than a few people watching who think he should be playing in the red of United rather than the royal blue of Everton. Now 28, Keane is entering his prime years as a central defender and is certain to add many more England caps to the 12 he’s already accumulated. United’s defensive issues have eased in recent months, but it’s a close call as to whether the Stockport-born academy graduate or Victor Lindelof is the better player. But after five appearances and three starts for United, Keane was allowed to leave in the summer of 2014, joining Burnley on loan, a switch that became permanent mid-season. Two-and-a-half years after signing him for £2million, the Clarets sold Keane to Everton for £30million. Keane’s last United appearance was the 4-0 humbling to MK Dons in the League Cup, a night that cost many a United player their Old Trafford career, but former reserve team boss Warren Joyce pinpoints a pre-season friendly that summer against Real Madrid that may also have had a bearing on new manager Louis van Gaal’s decision to cast Keane aside.
Joyce said: “Michael played against Real Madrid on a pre-season tour and Gareth Bale gave him a bit of a chasing But he’d had about five days training, he’d been away with England, he’d had a promotion battle with Leicester, he had no pre-season, he had a week away and came back straight into the training because he wanted to be involved under a new manager. He didn’t do that well and ended up going on loan, I said to Louis he should stay, I said ‘he’s a player, he’s a Manchester United centre half’.”
The 4-0 defeat to MK Dons was Keane’s last appearance for United Over time Keane has proved that prophecy correct and after his own time at the club had come to an end Van Gaal admitted that allowing the then 21-year-old centre back to depart was a mistake.Joyce added: “To be fair to Van Gaal, I met him in a bar in Portugal after he’d left and he said ‘you were right about Michael Keane, I was wrong’. I really like Louis, he was good with youth, he was methodical and he would tell you dead straight if something wasn’t right.”
Since selling Keane United have spent £160million on central defenders, in Marcos Rojo, Eric Bailly, Lindelof and Harry Maguire, when they had arguably gifted away a centre back who was good enough to play for them. To see how Rojo’s Old Trafford career disintegrated into farce shows the departure of Keane and the arrival of the Argentinean in the same summer of 2014 was a mistake. That’s not to say Keane’s journey at United was a smooth one. Will, his twin brother, was considered the more promising Keane coming through the academy and Joyce describes the centre back as being like ‘Bambi’ in his younger years, a phrase those behind the scenes at United have used previously in discussing his progress.
Joyce said: “He had to work his nuts off really, when he was 17 he was playing in the Under-16s on a Saturday morning. He was a bit like Bambi really, he kept growing and losing his coordination and mobility, he’d look weaker now working with the first-team at Salford City. It was only really when he got through to the reserves that he started to do anything. He got a bit of control of his body. He worked tremendously hard in the gym, he would do extra heading, extra running, he was always doing more, partly because his brother was a star player and he was always the one who had to work and work. He went out on loans, even out on loan he’d do well for a spell then grow a bit and lose a little coordination.”
Eventually, it all came together for Keane. Playing under a no-nonsense centre back at Burnley in Sean Dyche helped him develop that side of his game and he’s thriving under the tactical excellent of Carlo Ancelotti at Everton, having had a difficult spell under Ronald Koeman. Keane has recently returned to the England side and it would be no surprise to see him partner Maguire in the European Championships this summer, a partnership that could have been reprised at club level if United had shown a little more patience in one of their own.
Joyce said: “He’d fit into the team well, he’s good on the ball, in my opinion, he’d definitely play for Manchester United now. He’s a good kid as well, solid, but you need a bit of luck, you need someone to believe in you. Louis did say that in Portugal.But it’s a hard world being a footballer, you have to prove yourself every minute of every day to whoever is in charge, you’ve got to earn the trust of whoever is in charge and unfortunately he didn’t quite do it at that time. When you know them a bit longer they’ve already gained the trust of myself and the players at his level, that’s the bond you get over a period of time. It’s the same for all young players. I used to say to them at Manchester United you get one game, that one game you’ve got to turn into five, if you turn five into 15 you’re on your way, if you turn 15 into 50 you might get another contract at Manchester United. Fifty into the 100s and you’ve arrived, but you might only get one game. Michael was a bit unfortunate, maybe there can be more patience, but he’s certainly a loss to the football club.”
