Michael Keane
Last season, when Michael Keane was breaking into the fringes of the first-team it looked as though he would have no chance of making it. He had the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Phil Jones, Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling to get through. But barely a year on, the 21-year-old central defender is the most experienced youngster on tour and after loan stints with Leicester City, Derby County, and Blackburn Rovers, Keane is in with a shout of making the first-team squad on a regular basis.
A key member of the successful FA Youth Cup-winning team of 2011, Michael Keane has shown just why he is regarded as one of the finest young defenders not just in the club, but in England itself. Although he started out his career as a full back, he has transformed into a man-mountain of a centre back who won the Reserves Player of the Year in 2012. A versatile defender, who can be a threat in set-pieces, Keane might just turn out to be Vidic’s long-term replacement.