The pressure has grown on Michael Keane to deliver consistently under Carlo Ancelotti in the new Premier League season after Everton announced a new five-year contract for the England defender.
Keane has been a staple of the Everton first-time since his then-club-record £30million move from Burnley in 2017, with the 27-year-old making 107 outings for the Blues and moving to within one appearance of matching his career-tally with the Clarets.
Everton fans have not always seen a consistent centre-half from Keane over the last three years, as the Manchester-born defender has proven himself to be prone to the occasional error and left fans fearing for the worst when Phil Jagielka departed the club last summer.
Those concerns proved to be well placed against Liverpool in December when we were humbled at Anfield, in a game which ultimately cost Marco Silva his job as the Portuguese coach was sacked two days later. Keane also left supporters irate after our defeat to Leicester City in the Carabao Cup Quarter-Final after producing a ‘clumsy’ and ‘awful’ display.
His efforts in those fixtures were not a needle in the haystack of top-draw performances, either, as Keane failed to organise the backline as we lost to Sheffield United, his misjudgement allowed Gabriel Jesus to open the scoring for Manchester City in September and he was dropped to the bench against Arsenal in December.
Did Keane deserve a new contract?
Yes
No
Keane ultimately began to really turn things around when the Premier League season resumed after almost four months of inactivity, with a string of high-level displays.
The former Manchester United prospect was excellent against Norwich City, using his strength and aerial talent to quell the Canaries’ threat. He again impressed against Leicester, led the backline against Aston Villa and really stood out from the bunch away to Sheffield United in the penultimate weekend.
At Bramall Lane, he earned a WhoScored Man of the Match award with an 8.1 rating, having won 10 aerial duels, 100% of his tackles, made 13 clearances and found teammates with 62 of his 73 attempted passes.
The pressure is now on Keane to maintain the level of performances seen from him post-lockdown, having played every minute on offer once the Premier League season resumed and earned a handful of Man of the Match awards during those fixtures.
If not, Everton’s decision to extend his contract could come back to haunt us, as it was not just with the Blues that 10-cap Keane let his teammates down at times last term after his woefully misplaced pass led to Kosovo taking a 1-0 lead at home to England.