Who is Sheffield United target Michael Keane? | OneFootball

Of the players linked to Sheffield United. Michael Keane is one of the more famous ones. The Blades, according to Danny Hall, have reportedly enquired about his availability.

But why exactly are the Blades so Keane on the Everton defender?

Carrington Graduate

(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Michael Keane, who recently turned 32, started his playing career in Manchester United’s academy. He entered Carrington in 2004 training with the club since age 11. He signed for Manchester United as an academy scholar in 2009 alongside his brother Will.

When he turned 18 on 11 January 2011, Keane signed his first professional contract with the Red Devils. By October 2011, he made his first team debut in the League Cup against Aldershot entering the field on the 70th minute.

Almost a year later, Keane would make his first start for the Red Devils in the League Cup on 26 September 2012. His work in 2012, saw him voted Manchester United’s Reserve Player of the Year 2012. He won with 60% of the votes ahead of former Blades target Jesse Lingard who had just 24% of the vote.

A Loan Fox

In November 2012, Keane and Lingard joined Leicester City on an initial month-long loan that was extended until the end of the season. His debut came against Bolton Wanderers in a 0-0 draw.

His first goal for the Foxes came against Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup fourth round on 12 February 2013.

Overall, Keane played 27 matches for Leicester scoring three goals. His final game for the club came in the infamous “Hogg Deeney” playoff semi-final.

Derby County Loan

In December 2013, Keane joined Derby County on loan until January. He made his debut against Blackpool on 7 December 2013, joining the game in the 73rd minute as the Rams won 5-1.

He stayed with Derby until the end of January, before being recalled to Manchester United. In total, Keane played eight games for Derby.

Blackburn Rovers Loan

On 7 March 2014, Keane was loaned to Blackburn Rovers. He made his debut in the derby against his future club Burnley in a 2-1 defeat for Rovers.

He played 13 matches in the blue-and-white and got back to scoring ways with three goals.

Joining the Clarets

(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

After making his first league appearance for the Red Devils in August 2014, where he replaced Chris Smalling in the 43rd minute against Sunderland.

Keane was loaned out again to Burnley until January 2015. He made his debut for the Clarets against his former side Leicester City. After a successful start to life on Turf Moor, Keane signed permanently for the club on 8 January 2015. He made 23 appearances in his first season in what would be a warm up for better seasons to come.

The 2015-16 season was a breakthrough one for Keane. A first full season playing regularly for a permanent club, Keane made 44 Championship appearances. The season would see Burnley promoted to the Premier League as Champions on 93 points. Keane contributed 5 goals and an assist earning him a place in the PFA Championship Team of The Year.

In 2016-2017, Keane became a Premier League player and took to it with ease. He made 35 top flight appearances for the Clarets scoring twice and got an assist. He played an integral role in keeping the Clarets in the Premier League as they finished 16th. His nomination for 2017’s PFA Young Player of the Year alongside the likes of Dele Alli and Harry Kane showcased how impressive he’d been.

Before he left Turf Moor in Summer 2017, Keane had played 108 times for the Clarets scoring 7 times and providing 5 assists.

A seasoned Toffee

On 3 July 2017, Everton signed Keane from Burnley for an initial £25 million rising to £30 million. His first goal came just a month later in the Europa League play-off round first leg against Hadjuk Split.

In his first six seasons at Goodison Park. Keane made 214 total appearances in all competitions and had been a regular up until the 2022-2023 season. His appearances became more limited in recent seasons under his former Burnley and recently sacked Everton boss, Sean Dyche.

This Season

This season Keane has played 12 matches for Everton in all competitions. Nine out of the 12 matches came in the Premier League with Keane starting all of them. He has even scored two Premier League goals this season against Bournemouth and Ipswich Town respectively.

In the Premier League according to stats by FutMob, Keane has been good defensively. He has won 70% of his tackles and 51.8% of his ground duels. He has completed 23 recoveries, 10 interceptions and won 19 aerial duels. Compared to other Premier League centre-backs his numbers are lower but that is partly due to him playing half as many games.

His passing ability is fairly impressive. Keane has a passing accuracy of 83.5%  and a long ball accuracy of 60.3%. His long ball accuracy has him amongst the best long ball passing CBs in the Premier League. He has even created two chances this season and has only been dispossessed twice this season.

Whilst, not the most important part of a Centre-back’s game, Keane’s shooting stats are among the best in the Premier League for Centre-backs this season. Aside from his two goals, Keane has completed eight shots (three on target) and has an xG of 0.43. As such Keane is more prolific than his own goalscoring suggests.

In a side like Sheffield United’s this season a good disciplinary record is vital. This season, Keane has four yellow cards but no red cards. This is promising as his yellow card count suggests he’ll fit in well, but his lack of a red card makes him reliable under pressure.

As a potential Souttar replacement his height is somewhat important, Keane is six foot three, only four inches shy of the Leicester loanee. A fairly close height given how rare finding a six foot seven centre-back is.

International Experience

Michael Keane, whilst born in Stockport, has an Irish father. This led to him playing two games each for the Republic of Ireland’s U17s and U19s respectively between 2010 and 2011.

In 2012, Keane switched allegiance to England and was part of the U19s squad that reached the European Under-19 Championship semi-finals. Between 2013-2015, Keane made 16 appearances and scored 3 goals for England’s U21s.

On 4 October 2016, Keane was called up to the England Senior team replacing Glen Johnson playing in qualification matches for the 2018 World Cup. He scored his first Three Lions’ goal on 25 March 2019, with a header from a Ross Barkley free-kick. In total he has 12 England caps.

Takeaways

Michael Keane is an experienced Premier League defender and England international with further experience playing in Europe. His time playing in high-profile matches would make him a great addition to this United side whether just for the rest of the season or beyond.

It is currently unclear whether Keane is in David Moyes’ plans. Since Moyes returned to Goodison, he has been on the bench.

If Wilder and his team can pull off this signing, Keane would be great for the Championship. Plus, if the Blades get promoted he could play a similar role to Jagielka in 2019, with the added benefit of already being bedded into the side. As well as being about four years younger than the former Blade.

One of the biggest benefits of having Keane at Bramall Lane is his experience in Premier League survival. He did early in his career with Burnley and has since survived multiple times with Everton.