Keane: Van Gaal Sold Me On The Basis Of One Game
Reuters / Phil Noble
Former Manchester United defender Michael Keane has revealed that he was offloaded by Louis van Gaal because of the Red Devils’ 4-0 defeat at the hands of MK Dons in the League Cup.
Michael Keane, who graduated from United’s Youth Academy along with his twin brother Will, currently plays at Burnley, where he has been largely impressive. The 24-year-old is, at present, one of the most promising English defenders, and is being monitored by numerous clubs from all across the country.
However, the center-back has now revealed how the coaches at Manchester United, including Sir Alex Ferguson, were always aware of his potential, but things went terribly south following the appointment of Louis van Gaal.
Speaking to The Guardian, Keane revealed: “I always felt I would be a Manchester United player. The coaches used to say to me that sometimes they would send other players out on loan to help them get a move, but that was never the case with me.
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“They saw it as experience for me because they thought I was good enough to get in the first team when I came back. But then obviously Sir Alex left and it all changed.
“I think he (Sir Alex Ferguson) liked me. It was just disappointing after the change of manager that I didn’t get a real chance. I played a bit in pre-season and then there was one terrible game for all of us (vs MK Dons) – and that was it.”
Keane further added how his impressive performances whilst on loan at Burnley still weren’t enough to impress Van Gaal, who had already made up his mind about offloading all the players (except David De Gea) that featured in that embarrassing defeat.
“The first call I got was that Burnley wanted to take me on a permanent deal,” the young Englishman continued.
“I didn’t really want to go permanently at first and pushed for it just to be a loan to begin with. Burnley were in the Premier League and I thought that if I did well it would help my chances of proving to Louis van Gaal that I was good enough. And I did do well. It just wasn’t enough [for Van Gaal].”
