Michael Vincent Keane (born 11 January 1993) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club Everton. Keane began his career at

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

and was named as their Reserves Player of the Year in 2012, but was loaned out several times, latterly to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

who signed him on a permanent basis in January 2015. He was part of their team which won the

2015–16 Football League Championship The 2015–16 Football League Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the twelfth season of the Football League Championship under its current title and it was the twenty-fourth season under its current ...

prior to his transfer to Everton in 2017. Keane has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-17 and under-19 levels and England at under-19, under-20, under-21 and senior levels, most recently in 2020.

Club career

Manchester United

Keane was born in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is withi ...

, Greater Manchester. He grew up in the suburb of

Heaton Mersey Heaton Mersey is a suburb of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on the north-western border of Stockport, adjacent to Didsbury and Burnage in Manchester. Heaton Mersey is a mostly residential area and commuter zone for Manche ...

and attended St Bede's College in Whalley Range. He played for South Manchester in Cheadle, before joining

as an academy scholar in 2009 at the age of 16 along with his twin brother

Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wi ...

; both had been training with the club since the age of 11. Keane signed his first professional contract with Manchester United on his 18th birthday on 11 January 2011. He made his first-team debut in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

on 25 October 2011, coming on as a substitute in the 70th minute in United's fourth round victory over

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

. On 28 January 2012, he was again named on the bench, this time against

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

; however, he was an unused substitute and the match finished 2–1 to Liverpool. Keane started a first-team match for the first time against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

in the League Cup on 26 September 2012, playing alongside Scott Wootton as a

. Following the match, teammate

Darren Fletcher Darren Barr Fletcher (born 1 February 1984) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player who is currently the technical director of Manchester United, where he spent the majority of his playing career. He mostly played as a centr ...

praised him for being "fantastic". Keane won the award for the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year in 2012. He was the clear winner with 60% of the votes, beating Jesse Lingard (24%) and

Larnell Cole Larnell James Cole (born 9 March 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Warrington Town. Born in Manchester, Cole began his career with Manchester United, before joining Fulham in January 2014. He had loan spe ...

(16%). He made 27 appearances in all competitions for the reserve team in the 2011–12 season, during which he scored five goals. The reserve team won the Reserve League North and the national play-off final that season. Keane told MUTV: "I was surprised but really pleased to win the award. It's great to know that it's been voted for by the fans, because they come to watch us and follow us throughout the season." On 6 November 2012, Keane alongside his teammate Jesse Lingard joined

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

until 3 December 2012. This was later extended to 2 January 2013. Keane made his debut for Leicester City on 6 November 2012, in a 0–0 draw away to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

. On 4 January 2013, Keane extended his stay at Leicester until the end of January and was given permission by United to play in the FA Cup for Leicester. On 24 January 2013, Keane extended his stay at Leicester until the end of the season. On 12 February, Keane scored his first goal, in a 2–1 defeat to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

in the fourth round of the FA Cup. On 5 March, he scored a 90th-minute header against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

to gain Leicester a point in a 1–1 draw. On 28 November 2013, after receiving offers from

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

and

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

, Keane opted to join Derby County on loan until 2 January 2014. He made his debut for Derby on 7 December 2013, coming on in the 73rd minute of a 5–1 win against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

. He almost scored with a header from a corner in the 92nd minute but his effort was saved and

Richard Keogh Richard John Keogh (born 11 August 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Ipswich Town and for the Republic of Ireland national team. His main positional role is at centre-back, though he has also played at right-back du ...

headed in the rebound. The loan deal was extended by a further month on 2 January 2014, with Keane now able to play for Derby in the FA Cup. On 30 January 2014, Derby County sent him back to Manchester United after signing George Thorne on loan from

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

. On 7 March 2014, Keane joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season. Keane was handed the number 16 shirt number for his time at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...

. He made his debut for the club on 9 March, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 defeat at home to local rivals

. Keane returned to Old Trafford on the completion of the Championship season and was named on the bench for Manchester United's last home match of the season against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

. Keane made his first league appearance for Manchester United squad on 24 August 2014 against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

replacing

Chris Smalling Christopher Lloyd Smalling (born 22 November 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Roma. Smalling represented the England national team from 2011 to 2017. During his youth, Smalling played f ...

in the 43rd minute. Two days later, Keane would start for United in the League Cup against

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

; the Dons would win 4–0.

Burnley

On 2 September 2014, Keane completed a loan move to Burnley until January 2015. Keane made his Burnley debut against Leicester City. The loan was made permanent on 8 January 2015 for an undisclosed fee, with Keane signing a three-and-a-half-year contract. Keane started his first full season at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional footba ...

brightly, scoring twice in the opening month of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

. He scored five times in total: his last goal of the season was against Middlesbrough in a top-of-the-table clash on 19 April; less than a month later both Burnley and Middlesbrough would be celebrating promotion back to the Premier League. Keane scored his first Premier League goal against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

on 26 September 2016. On 13 April 2017, Keane was named as one of six players shortlisted for the

PFA Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the s ...

award.

Everton

On 3 July 2017, Keane signed for Premier League club Everton on a five-year contract, for an initial fee of £25 million that could rise to £30 million. Keane made his league debut for Everton on 12 August 2017, when his club beat

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

1–0 at Goodison Park. Keane scored his first goal for Everton on 17 August 2017 in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

play-off round first leg against

Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 197 ...

. Keane had risen highest at the far post to head in

Leighton Baines Leighton John Baines (born 11 December 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a left back. He is currently U-18s manager at Everton. Baines started his career with Wigan Athletic, and was part of the team that won the ...

' left-wing cross. His towering header gave Everton the lead in the 30th minute and the match ended with Everton winning the match by 2–0. Keane scored his first league goal for Everton on 25 August 2018 in a 2–2 away draw with

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a r ...

before leaving the match on a stretcher and being taken to hospital after clashing heads with a teammate, having suffered from a hairline fracture to his skull. On 30 August 2020, Keane signed a new contract with Everton until 2025.

International career

Born in England to an Irish father, Keane was eligible to play for either

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

or the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

. He represented Ireland at under-17 and under-19 levels, but expressed his desire to play for the England under-19 team and hoped to be included in the squad for the friendly against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in February 2012. He made his debut for the under-19 team on 25 May 2012, in a 5–0 win against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

during which his twin brother

scored twice. He was named in manager

Noel Blake Noel Lloyd George Blake (born 12 January 1962) is a former professional footballer and current coach. He was formerly the head coach of the England national under-19 football team. He played in the Football League for Aston Villa, Shrewsbury Tow ...

's squad for the

2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 61st edition of UEFA's European Under-19 Championship (the eleventh since the age competition change to an Under-19 level) and took place in Estonia from 3 to 15 July. Spain are the title hol ...

, and helped England reach the semi-final. On 25 March 2013, Keane made his debut for the England under-21 team, replacing

Andre Wisdom Andre Alexander Shaquille Wisdom (born 9 May 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back or centre-back. Wisdom began his career at Bradford City before signing for Liverpool in 2008. He made his senior debut for the c ...

in the 77th minute of a 4–0 win against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

at the

Falmer Stadium The Falmer Stadium, known for sponsorship purposes as the American Express Community Stadium and also referred to as the Amex, is a football stadium in the village of Falmer, in the City of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. With a capacity of 31, ...

. On 14 November 2013, Keane opened the scoring in the England Under-21s' 3–0 win over Finland, putting in

James Ward-Prowse James Michael Edward Ward-Prowse (born 1 November 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Southampton and the England national team. Originally a member of Southampton's youth teams, Ward-Prowse ...

's free-kick after 21 minutes. Keane repeated the feat for the second match in a row five days later, heading in Tom Ince's corner in the 13th minute. The England U21 team went on to beat the San Marino U21 team 9–0, a record win. On 4 October 2016, he was called into the full

squad, as a replacement for the injured

Glen Johnson Glen McLeod Cooper Johnson (''né'' Stephens; born 23 August 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played predominantly as a right back. Johnson began his career at West Ham United, spending time on loan at Millwall, and was ...

, by interim manager

Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a defender and midfielder. He has been the manager of the England national team since 2016. Southgate won the League Cu ...

for the

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

matches against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

on 8 October and

three days later. Keane made his debut on 22 March 2017, playing the full 90 minutes in a friendly defeat to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. He scored his first goal on 25 March 2019 with a header from

Ross Barkley Ross Barkley (born 5 December 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Nice. Barkley began his professional career at Everton in 2010. After loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United he ...

's free kick in a 5–1 win away to

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

UEFA Euro 2020 qualification The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, played across Europe ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 12 November 2020. England score listed first, score column indicates score after each Keane goal.''

Honours

Manchester United *

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. I ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

Burnley *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

: 2015–16 England *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

third place: 2018–19 Individual * Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year: 2011–12 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...

: 2015–16 Championship

References

External links

Profile
at the Everton F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keane, Michael 1993 births Living people Footballers from Stockport English footballers England youth international footballers England under-21 international footballers England international footballers Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers Association football defenders Manchester United F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Everton F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Footballers educated at St Bede's College, Manchester English people of Irish descent Twin sportspeople English twins