5 players looking to rejuvenate their careers in 2018/19

#3 Michael Keane

Michael Keane will be looking to rediscover his old form under new boss Marco Silva

Flashback to the start of 2017/18 for a second. Michael Keane was coming off the best season of his young career; he’d been an ever-present for Burnley in 2016/17 and had earned rave reviews, he’d broken into the England set-up and looked like a shoo-in for a World Cup spot, and he’d just made a big money move that appeared to make sense, as he signed for Everton for a fee of £25m.

Unfortunately, the centre-back didn’t see things go to plan during his first season at Goodison Park. He was expected to form a formidable partnership with Wales international Ashley Williams, but Williams somehow aged overnight and became incredibly shaky, and his loss of form seemed to rub off on Keane, who began to look error-prone as Everton slid down the table.

The firing of Ronald Koeman and subsequent appointment of Sam Allardyce steadied Everton’s ship and allowed them to finish in a respectable 8th position, but Allardyce’s no-nonsense playing style didn’t really mesh well with Keane’s cultured style of defending, even if he did improve in form as the season went on.

2018/19 though could be very different for Keane. Everton now have a new – and more progressive – boss in Marco Silva, and judging from pre-season it looks like his go-to partnership in central defence could be Keane and England youngster Mason Holgate. Silva’s slicker style of playing should suit Keane far more than Allardyce’s did, and if he can return to the form he showed at Burnley, there’s no reason why he can’t force himself back into the England squad too.