Our Everton FC correspondent Joe Thomas details the factors at play as David Moyes sought to place faith in Michael Keane despite a replacement having been lined up
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 10: Everton Manager David Moyes during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Everton FC at Craven Cottage on May 10, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Brooks - CameraSport via Getty Images)
Everton manager David Moyes wanted to keep Michael Keane in his squad for next season
(Image: Shaun Brooks - CameraSport via Getty Images)
“Michael Keane, who has had some difficult times, played so well today and was immense for the goal off the corner. He’s a great boy and showed his professionalism as we’ve had injuries to (Jake) O’Brien and (James) Tarkowski and we looked different at the back."
That was David Moyes heaping praise on his fourth-choice centre-back after he played a crucial role in Everton’s feel-good win at Fulham in the final weeks of the season.
It was not the only time Moyes would venture out of his way to praise Keane. Sometimes it was direct, by name. On other occasions, such as two weeks later in the bowels of St James’ Park just minutes after ending the campaign with an impressive win and clean sheet at Newcastle United, it was implied: “We're without probably our two best defenders and I have to say the boys have done a great job in keeping it clean.”
Yet even then it felt likely Keane would be among the dozen or so players to depart when their terms with Everton expired at the end of June. There had felt an inevitability about the former Burnley defender’s exit for some 18 months.
In January of 2024 he was the subject of interest from Italy and then, both last summer and at the start of 2025, clubs from England and abroad were keeping tabs on him. That might be one of the reasons why he ended up leaving the club before an agreement was ultimately reached to take him into a ninth campaign in Royal Blue.
The defender was not offered a deal immediately. Unlike Seamus Coleman and Idrissa Gueye, who the club moved quickly to keep on Merseyside after the season ended, Keane’s situation was left unresolved.
The Blues remained in touch with the player’s representatives but both camps started the summer exploring alternative options, with Championship and newly-promoted Premier League clubs among those showing interest.
It got to the stage where Everton, while looking to make early in-roads into a summer of immense transition, agreed a deal with the club of another centre-back to ensure a replacement would be lined up. It did not get so far as a medical but a fee was reached and the player was poised for the switch before Moyes intervened to instead push for fresh talks with Keane.
As the end of June approached it transpired that, for all the options that presented themselves to club and player, an extension suited both. During the weeks between the Newcastle victory and June 30 there had been an expectation the sides would engage again before any final decisions were made and, while there was a brief period when Keane was officially a free agent, it did not take long for an agreement to be reached once they did.
That option may not have been available for Everton had the Championship season ended differently.
Sheffield United were pushing hard for a deal with Keane in the event of their promotion, only for that potential move to collapse when they lost the play-off final to Sunderland at Wembley.
Having looked at the options in the transfer market by late June the decision was straightforward for Moyes, who had been impressed with Keane’s work on the pitch and attitude off it following his return to the Blues dugout in January.
When the new deal was announced his words were short but to the point: “We are pleased Michael has agreed to stay with us. His performances at Fulham and Newcastle at the end of last season showed the value he can bring to our squad. We will need his experience and professionalism as we go forward."
The reality for Everton was that, should Keane depart, a replacement would have been needed - hence the advanced efforts to line one up. In a transfer window in which gaping holes need to be addressed in a threadbare squad, that would likely require money to be spent on a player who would have to accept being a back-up centre back.
Given what Moyes knew about Keane, who he had previously worked with at Manchester United, why pay money to bring in a new face when cash and continuity are of such importance?
Once the Blues boss had a better understanding of the options, Keane stood out as a clear favourite. He already knew the player while the player already knew Everton and had proven to be a capable figure when called upon.
A value is being placed on stability and culture during the rebuilding process the club has embarked on, hence the efforts to agree new deals with Keane, club captain Coleman and key midfielder Gueye, who is expected to sign to fresh terms in the coming days.
Keane’s commitment has never been in question either. One of his most painful days in Blue was the hammering at Tottenham Hotspur under Frank Lampard, a match in which his own goal seemed symbolic of Everton’s woes. He was only on the pitch that night because he was willing to play through illness to help Lampard’s injury-hit squad.
At Burnley, under Sean Dyche, he played through injury when the Blues' defensive options were threadbare and at Leicester City last season he again played through the pain of an injury to help the side’s cause.
Returning to Keane was made easier with his form at the end of the season. His time at Everton since joining from Burnley for a deal that had the potential to reach £30m in 2017 has been tumultuous, with highs and lows in a period characterised by the turmoil of the final years of the Farhad Moshiri ownership.
There were points when his personal fortunes were tied to those of the club yet Keane repeatedly fought back to play an important role when needed. It was his clever finish that kickstarted the comeback against Crystal Palace that saved the Blues from relegation in May 2022 and his thunderbolt against Spurs the following season earned a crucial point in another survival battle that went down to the wire.
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Over the past two seasons much of the praise for Everton’s league-leading defensive record has focused on the performances of Jarrad Branthwaite, James Tarkowski and Jordan Pickford.
Tarkowski, in particular, has been quick to make clear his and Branthwaite’s success has its roots in the professionalism of their team-mates and competition at Finch Farm, chief among them Keane.
Speaking to the ECHO in October 2023 Tarkowski turned the success of him and Branthwaite’s newly-formed partnership into a vindication of the work of Keane and former team-mate Ben Godfrey.
He said: “The two lads who have not been playing recently, Keano and Ben Godfrey, it is easy to forget about them a bit because me and Jarrad are playing, but they have been excellent, supporting us from behind, helping us.
“Every matchday you will see them warm us up and be in and around us, talking to us. People like that are invaluable and probably overlooked from the outside the club because don’t see it day-in, day-out. But for me and Jarrad to have two lads like that supporting us is incredible and they will get an opportunity to play, I’m sure.”
Tarkowski’s words were shown to have value just weeks later when both Keane and Godfrey played important roles when called upon against Burnley in a game that had the potential to be a relegation six-pointer given the points deduction Everton were reeling from. Keane scored in that game to help the Blues take three points and a clean sheet home from Turf Moor.
Last season, Keane’s value rose as he bookended the campaign with runs in the team.
While Everton had a miserable start to the campaign, the 12-capped England international, grew into it with the team and, when Branthwaite eventually returned from injury, could count himself unfortunate to be the one to make way for the young starlet.
Amid the club’s attacking struggles, his predatory instincts had also been useful. Team-mates have been speaking earnestly when, through recent years, they have described him among the best finishers at the club. His breathtaking strike in the win at Ipswich Town was just another example.
For a figure who had endured tough moments, his run of form heading into the winter offered a redemption narrative that paved the way for him to leave on a high. That compelling story threatened to be torn apart when Moyes turned to Keane in the second half against Manchester City when Tarkowski pulled up with a serious hamstring injury.
Everton had weathered the storm to that point against a side that was fighting to keep their Champions League ambitions alive and it was a challenging game for a defender to walk into. Keane struggled in the circumstances and Pep Guardiola’s team scored two late goals to seal a hard-fought win.
The player acknowledged after the game that he had found it difficult and, had it not been for further knocks to Jake O’Brien and Branthwaite, that could have been a frustrating note to end his Everton career on. But then came Craven Cottage. And then, St James’ Park.
When finalising terms for his new contract, which contains an option for a further 12 months, Keane was aware he will start the campaign as fourth choice when some of those other clubs would have offered him, in theory, a better chance of playing.
But with Tarkowski having suffered that hamstring issue and O’Brien potentially required as cover at right-back, he could get opportunities. With that in mind, and with the club embarking on an exciting new era at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, the case to stay was compelling.
For Moyes, Keane is a known quantity, a pillar of stability and a trusted figure. He now occupies an important spot in the squad that no longer requires research and a transfer fee to fill at a time when attention and money are valuable.
The result is that, 12 years after the pair travelled to Thailand on a pre-season tour with Manchester United, they will now spend a summer together in the USA with Everton.