Everton have moved past the need to have Michael Keane in their squad judging by the latest decision by manager David Moyes in the defeat to Chelsea.
The Toffees are without club-captain and first-choice central defender James Tarkowski for the rest of the season after the former Burnley man underwent hamstring surgery, and he is likely to miss part of pre-season too as part of his recovery.
That opened up an opportunity for Keane, a 32-year-old former England international, to stake his claim for a spot in the team for the rest of the season and potentially even a new contract at the club.
Keane Has No Future at Everton
Moyes left him on the bench
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Moyes hinted that he could look to the former Manchester United man as the solution to his problem.
“Jake [O’Brien] is a centre-half so I’m not worried about doing it, that’s for sure. It’s just trying to get the right balance for the team. He’s done a brilliant job at full-back so it ‘s just weighing up whether we want to make one or two changes in position. We’ve got Michael Keane so we have options and we’ll look to play those options to see what works best.
However, when the team news was released before the lunchtime kick-off, Keane was nowhere to be seen in the starting lineup and was once again forced to settle for a place on the bench – with O’Brien shifted from his right-back spot and Nathan Patterson coming into the team for just his second Premier League start of the campaign.
While that isn’t the most controversial decision on the face of things, it does suggest that Moyes has already made his mind up on the former Burnley star – he’s not needed at Goodison Park or the new Bramley Moore Dock Stadium.
Keane currently earns £80,000-a-week on Merseyside, but with his contract coming to an end it’s clear the decision has been made to put that money to better use for next season.
The Friedkin Group are now in charge and will supply Moyes with the funds necessary to build the squad for a new era, and the hope will be not to avoid relegation but to get back to competing for a place in European competition. Keane doesn’t help that objective, and Moyes knows it.
Considering O’Brien is now ahead of him in the pecking order at centre-back, and both Seamus Coleman and Ashley Young are available to come in at right-back should Moyes want to make another change to his back line, it seems fair to say that Keane would be lucky to play for the Toffees again.
