Naz Majeed

I remember being a teenager and booting up an old version of Football Manager on my PC for the first time, and obviously picking Manchester United as the club that my virtual avatar was going to take over (sorry, Sir Alex, time to go).

It was likely late 2011, and so the simulation provided a close look at the state of the United side that would eventually go on to lose the Premier League with the most dramatic of finishes. The United squad would have the likes of the newly-arrived David De Gea and Phil Jones, while Edwin Van Der Sar, Paul Scholes, Owen Hargreaves, and Darron Gibson were now gone.

I would then trawl through the United reserve team, hoping to find myself another Giuseppe Rossi or David Healy or John Curtis. Maybe even the next Bojan Djordjic if I could be so lucky. Those were the days.

The eye of a Man Utd fan would, then, naturally settle upon not one but two players named “Keane”. Michael and Will, centre-back and striker. They would not be the first sibling pair to rise up from the youth system to win everything for United, of course, and I would make it my personal goal to turn them into Old Trafford legends.

I would soon be tempted to simply turn to the transfer market, snapping up wonderkids from the Eredivisie and Brasileirao and Jupiler League instead. Michael and Will Keane faded from my personal memory for a time, until I later saw a familiar name crop up at Burnley and thought back to the (virtual) player I had let go, much like how Manchester United had let him go in 2014, two years after being named Reserve Team Player of the Year, who I managed to speak to this week.

"When I won the reserve team player of the year it was between me, Jesse Lingard, and Larnell Cole. We had a lot of good players in the team. PaulPogba, my brother Will, we had Ravel Morrison, so there was a lot of good competition there. And yeah I was really happy I managed to win it."

"I keep in touch with Jesse now, I see him when I can and quite often with England. He’s a good friend of mine."

To have won the award ahead of Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison often described as one of the most talented players to have ever come out of England, is no small feat.

Some might argue that it is just a “reserve” award but past winners of United’s academy prizes include Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, and Phil Neville, among others.

It would have been a good stepping stone, a platform by which his career in the first team would be launched. Following in the footsteps of the Class of 92 (as well as other former winners such as Darren Fletcher and John O’Shea) would have been a reasonable assumption to make, though there were also those such as Terry Cooke, Ronnie Wallwork, and Jonathan Greening who have been relegated to the annals of history (virtual and otherwise). 

Winning an individual award as a defender is always difficult, of course, as often times the centre-back is the least spectacular position on the pitch, only highlighted when the player in question adopts the traits of others such as a penchant for long passing (like David Luiz), or is particularly error-prone (like David Luiz).

Michael Keane, fairly unassuming and not much of a flair player, winning it ahead of Pogba and Morrison, was quite an achievement, then. But he did not make the impact at Old Trafford that he hoped for.

"I absolutely loved my time at United. They were really patient with me when I was younger and made me the player I am today. I think it changed things massively for me when Sir Alex retired because I think he really liked me as a player and I think I would have got more of a chance had he stayed."

 "Things got more difficult when he left the club, so they probably wanted to play more experienced players instead of any youngsters in there. That’s just the way it is, I’ve got no regrets about leaving or anything that’s happened."

Sir Alex Ferguson’s relationship and assessment of some members of the Youth and reserve team is most famously demonstrated by the fallout with Pogba, with the shock of his retirement reducing certain members of the first team squad into tears.

The transition to David Moyes was rocky, and after a resounding opening day Premier League win in 2013 (after a Community Shield victory against Wigan), many including myself had high hopes, and I imagine Keane himself thought the same.

Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic were ageing and needed refreshing, and while Phil Jones, Jonny Evans, and Chris Smalling were available, it would not have been unreasonable for Keane to imagine playing some part in the season.

Things quickly turned sour for Moyes, of course, and the last thing that would have been expected was for him to turn from the experienced old guard to an untested academy graduate. As a fan, I could not honestly say I clamoured for him to call up Nick Powell, Tyler Blackett, or Davide Petrucci, though the Scotsman did turn to Adnan Januzaj (later taking him to Sunderland as well).

So Keane was at the right place at the wrong time, and soon departed, going on loan first to Derby County, and then Blackburn Rovers, before finally finding a permanent move to Burnley, after not being able to convince either Louis Van Gaal to add him with the first team. 

"Michael Carrick was unbelievable, Scholes in the obvious one, but every time I trained with Carrick - I think I played with him only once or twice - his range of passing, he never gave the ball away, always wanted the ball and he was always so calm and so impressive in every training session and every game I watched."

Carrick’s influence can be seen in Keane’s play today. Now an important member of the Everton squad under Carlo Ancelotti, his calm and measured style seems to mesh well with the Italian’s cultured approach.

Preferring to read the game rather than rashly dive into a tackle, Keane may not make headlines, being cerebral more than confrontational, but he has proven quietly effective, also developing a passing range that has seen him force his way into the England squad.

Gareth Southgate has selected him ahead of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, still contracted to Manchester United but deemed inferior to the one that was allowed to leave.

Keane has come a long way since his early days, and while he speaks with great enthusiasm about Everton and what the future holds for him at Goodison Park and Merseyside. His career has been a good one, and at 27 he is entering his peak years as a defender.

Having always been on an upward trajectory, there has been talk of a return to United, though it would seem that he is settled and satisfied with where he is right now, with every chance of getting better and better.

Regardless, the United fan within me will look back at what was allowed to pass, and was what allowed to slip away, and wonder what might have been. I am sure a part of him does too.