The ex-Man Utd signing Ipswich Town struck despite QPR red flags | OneFootball

Will Keane never kicked on from his three-goal Championship campaign with Ipswich, and ended up feeling the same frustration as QPR

It wasn't until Will Keane signed for Wigan Athletic aged 27 that he became a prolific frontman in the EFL. Before then, he'd caused a lot of frustration elsewhere.

The Manchester United youth product had plenty of promise coming through the academy at Carrington and was even integrated into the first team under Sir Alex Ferguson at times. But when he was sent out on loan to Championship sides, he failed to make an impact.

Keane seemed to be looking to bounce back in the Premier League at Hull City following his departure from the Red Devils, but a knee injury just months into his time in East Yorkshire ruled him out for a year, and he never recovered with the Tigers.

A loan spell at Ipswich Town at the end of the 2018/19 campaign seemed to show promise, scoring three times in 11 Championship games. He wasn't able to help the Tractor Boys stay up, but that spell was his first time being a consistent starter in a squad in nearly three years.

After Hull released him at the end of that campaign, Ipswich made a gamble on him continuing that little burst into the following year, and the now League One outfit brought him in permanently on a one-year deal.

Unfortunately, he couldn't make much of an impact, and in the end, Ipswich were left feeling the same frustration as some of the other sides who had taken a chance on Keane earlier in his career.

Will Keane's disappointing first and only full season at Ipswich Town gave QPR flashbacks

Keane's contract at Ipswich resembled almost a year-long trial period at Portman Road. Paul Lambert saw in the few months towards the end of the 2018/19 campaign that the then-26-year-old had plenty of talent still, but he wasn't risking giving him a multi-year contract after his release from Hull.

Therefore, Keane's contract was an initial one-year deal with an option for a further 12 months. If the frontman impressed, he'd be sticking around for a little longer.

As it happened, Keane's deal lasted just the one year, after he managed only three goals in 23 League One games, as Ipswich's return to the third tier for the first time since 1957 ended disappointingly, finishing 11th on a points per game basis after the campaign was curtailed due to COVID-19.

The three league goals in 23 games had some QPR fans, Sheffield Wednesday fans, and, at the time, Wigan Athletic and Preston North End fans, thinking back to the uneventful loan spells that Keane spent at their clubs during his time at Manchester United.

QPR endured arguably the worst spell of the four, as a then-21-year-old Keane failed to find the net in 10 Championship games, following a no-goal-in-four spell at the DW Stadium.

Wednesday and Preston fans were at least able to see him score during the loan spells he spent at their clubs, and given the Latics only saw him play for a month, the time he spent at Ipswich in the 2019/20 campaign would have resonated more with those at Loftus Road at the time.

Will Keane's quality since leaving Ipswich Town will only serve to frustrate them and QPR further

With Keane coming through one of the best academies in the country at Manchester United, it was clear that he had talent; it was just about who could harness that and profit from it.

Many felt that the 2019/20 campaign at Portman Road would be the season he could, especially given that he was largely injury-free. But Keane left Ipswich after a disappointing spell.

As it happened, it was the club he signed for next that helped him show off the potential many knew he had, as he returned to Wigan permanently on an initial three-month deal, which was extended to the end of the season after he netted five goals in 12 games, the same number he had managed in his previous 28 league outings.

After a modest end to that campaign, Keane exploded into life the next season, winning League One's golden boot with 26 goals en route to a League One title with the Tics, and earning his first international caps for the Republic of Ireland, too.

Since then, he's been a consistent Championship frontman, and Ipswich and QPR fans were left wondering where this version of Keane was when he was playing for them.

Ultimately, no one was surprised when the former Manchester United youngster finally showed his quality in the EFL, but there will have been some disgruntled faces at Portman Road while he was performing to his best at Wigan and Preston — especially as he's netted braces for both against Ipswich since!