Manchester United and Liverpool are likely to engage in a tussle over signing the United Academy defender Michael Keane, who currently plays for Burnley.
According to a report by The Mirror, the arch-rivals are set to fight it out for the former United Academy graduate Michael Keane, who has transformed himself into one of England’s strongest centre-backs.
Liverpool were believed to have an upper-hand so far in the deal, and are confident to obtain the services of the 24-year-old.
In fact, Jurgen Klopp has even admitted that Keane is their biggest defensive target for the transfer window. However, since he has history with Manchester United, he might have a soft corner for the Red Devils at heart and choose their offer over Liverpool’s.
Jose Mourinho has also expressed interest in the home grown talent, but he will have to move quickly if he wants to upstage Liverpool in the pursuit of the Englishman.
As far as Keane is concerned, he has been inundated with offers. If reports are to be believed, he has been asked to join the ranks at Chelsea and Everton. However, Everton were allegedly not okay with the player’s asking price of £25 million.
The youngster has been quite on demand after his appearances against Germany and Lithuania during one of the international breaks. He was also a member of the 2011 United Youth Cup side with Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard.
Burnley would obviously not want a talented defender like him to leave the club, but the club does have little hopes of keeping the player, especially with so many Premier League bigwigs showing their interest in him.
Currently, Keane is waiting to see how Liverpool fares as far as Champions League qualification is concerned, before officially signing a contract and committing himself to the deal by Klopp. It is said that personal terms have been agreed upon by the duo, but as of now, nothing is confirmed yet.
Most reports, however, suggest that Keane will be more inclined to join Old Trafford, despite the club selling him to Burnley in January 2015. Back then, Louis van Gaal was the manager and he allowed the starlet to leave the club, but with Mourinho renewing his interest, Keane might just consider this over everybody else’s offers.
Manchester United sold Keane to Burnley for £2.5million back in 2015, and now Mourinho feels like he would be the perfect partner for Eric Bailly as far as United’s defence is concerned. Before Arsenal ended their 25-game unbeaten run in the Premier League, United did not lose a single match because of their stoic defence.
Adding Keane to their defensive arsenal will only strengthen their forces at the back. At heart, Keane is said to have always wanted to go back to Old Trafford, so Mourinho will need to make a concrete offer soon, since Keane looks like he’s too good of a player to miss.
The young defender made his England debut in March, and also got short-listed for the PFA Young Player of the Year award this season and has emerged as a highly-coveted central defender in the Premier League so far.
