Another returning youngster.
Manchester United really should give more consideration to youth players who are allowed to leave the club, as bringing them back is proving costly.
Following last season’s costly purchase of academy alum Paul Pogba for £89m, this summer is likely to result in another old boy returning to Old Trafford.
Burnley’s burly central defender Michael Keane left United for Turf Moor back in September 2014 due to lack of first team opportunities under Louis van Gaal, who was happy to rubber-stamp the sale of a seemingly inconsequential young player. But since then Keane has developed into an England international.
He joined Burnley for around £2.5m, but the cost of buying him back is likely to set Jose Mourinho back by around ten times that.
However, United had the good sense to negotiate a 25% sell-on clause into the deal to sell the player to the Clarets, and the Mirror report that they’d be willing to reduce this ‘discount’ to buy him back.
Keane’s current contract only has a year left to run, but the fact there is stiff competition for his signature from the likes of Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool means that his price is still relatively high. That said, United remain strong favourites to sign the player because he is reportedly most keen to return to his boyhood club.
It makes a lot of sense from Mourinho’s point of view, as the 24-year-old would be classed as a ‘home-grown’ player, and that’s important for European competition as UEFA require at least four such players in each competing squad.
Here’s the regulation YouTube compilation featuring his best bits…
