Will Keane is a free agent and has spent the past five weeks at the PFA pre-season camp as he searches for his next club. The 33-year-old former Manchester United striker is without a club after his Preston North End contract expired this summer.
Keane sat down with Mirror Football to discuss his career, from the highs of coming through at Old Trafford to the lows of two serious knee injuries, and why he believes he still has plenty to offer.
Coming through at Manchester United
Keane came through the ranks at United's Carrington academy and made his first-team debut in December 2011, appearing as a second-half substitute in a 3-2 defeat to Blackburn Rovers. He was soon back with the Under-21s, but while representing England Under-19s in May 2012, he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, sidelining him for the entire 2012/13 campaign.
He made his return in September 2013 and was loaned to Wigan Athletic for a month, but a groin injury curtailed that spell. Further loans at QPR, Sheffield Wednesday and Preston followed, before Louis van Gaal handed him two more first-team appearances off the bench, one in the Premier League against Sunderland and one in the FA Cup at Shrewsbury.
In August 2016, United sold him to newly promoted Hull City for £1 million on a three-year contract.
Reflecting on his time at United, Keane told Mirror Football: "I look back now and it was the best place to come through the ranks and have that development. I was lucky to have a strong squad as a whole."
He added: "At the time, the feeling was that a lot of us would go and break in and get around the first team, which a few did and stayed there for a long time. I loved it. I think the whole education, enjoying going in every day. It was a great place to learn our trade and to make that transition from academy to reserves. And then I think the coaches we had at the time were all brilliant.
"I see now even a lot of lads are going on to have great careers. I think you've seen it at United, haven't you, over the years? It's been like a conveyor belt. The aim is to always play, but if you don't, lads are still on to have great careers. It was the perfect place to be."
'Shocking timing' of his ACL injuries
Keane believes the first serious injury derailed his progress at United. "It's all ifs, buts and maybes, so there's no saying that I would have stayed there and played a lot more. But I think in football, a lot of it is timing, isn't it? I was quite unfortunate that I did have a bad knee injury at the time, which I'd just made my debut, and then it was the last game of the season," he said.
"I did my ACL and then I ended up being out for 15 or 16 months, so it was a long time when it was probably a key part of the transition and getting around the squad. So obviously that hindered my progression then, and even then when I got back, it took time to get myself going, so that didn't help. And then I did it again, even when I left United and I went to Hull in the Premier League, played a few games and ended up redoing it. So then that was another year out.
"At the time it was shocking timing and it kind of killed me, but that is the way it goes. I've still managed to carve out a career. Obviously you never know, if I'd not had them, would I have stayed higher up? Potentially, but who knows?"
After joining Hull, Keane suffered his second ACL injury in only his sixth appearance, during a 2-1 win over Southampton in November 2016. He was sidelined for 14 months and returned in January 2018, after Hull had been relegated to the Championship. He scored his first goal for the Tigers in a 5-0 thrashing of Burton Albion in April 2018.
A physical and mental battle
Keane admitted the recovery process was a huge challenge. "Yeah, at the time it was a real challenge," he said. "I think the first one I didn't really know because I'd never had a bad injury like that before, I kind of just got on with it. It was obviously really tough to take, but I didn't know how long the actual rehab process was going to take.
"As it carried on, I thought this is never ending. And it was tough because I remember at the time I was thinking, even when I got back outside, I was really struggling to get going and thought, how am I going to be able to play again here to a certain level?
"It just takes time and a bit of reprogramming your body and your brain almost to do all the things you used to do, but you get there eventually."
He added: "The second one was tough because it was almost like a second chance at playing at that top level in the Prem. So that one was really hard, especially because I knew how long it was out because I'd been through it once before.
"That season we got relegated at Hull, so then I've come back and we're not obviously in the same situation. That was hard to take because I felt like I'd had some setbacks at United, but then going to Hull was a fresh chance, a clean slate, and then to have that, it'd be such a major injury again, ruining the chance of getting more games in the Prem was really hard.
"Like I said, I've always tried to be optimistic and look to the positives, which is not easy at times. Still managed to grind it out and play at a good level and been at some great clubs."
A successful EFL career after leaving Hull
Keane left Hull in 2019 and joined Ipswich Town before moving to Wigan Athletic. The 2021/22 season was his most prolific, as he scored 27 goals in 50 appearances to help Wigan win the League One title. He then reached double figures in the Championship, which earned him a move to Preston North End.
At Preston, Keane finished as the club's leading scorer in 2023/24 with 13 goals, and his contract was extended until June 2026. But he struggled for opportunities under Paul Heckingbottom at the start of the 2025/26 season and joined Reading on loan for the latter half of the campaign, scoring two goals in 14 appearances. With his Preston contract expiring this summer, he became a free agent.
'Still raring to go' at 33
Keane has been training for five weeks at the PFA's pre-season camp, an initiative designed to help out-of-contract players maintain fitness while looking for new clubs. Despite the disappointment of limited game time at the end of last season, he feels ready for the next challenge.
"I feel really good," he told Mirror Football. "It was disappointing not to have played more games at the end of last season, but I feel like this is a clean slate and I'm still raring to go. I feel like I've still got a lot to offer."
He said: "I wanted to rediscover the form that I had a couple of years ago. I was playing consistently and scoring plenty of goals. I feel like I've still got that in me. I'm really itching to do that again.
"I had a few injuries early on in my career, but a few people in the game said to me, the coach and what not, that hopefully towards the end of my career I'll get them back.
"I'm not exactly a player who's always relied on pure pace, which I know sometimes as you get older you might lose that yard. But as long as you still keep sharp in the mind and keep getting in the right areas, hopefully I can still contribute and score goals. So that's the aim and hopefully I'll still have a successful couple of years."
